633 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS 


VERSUS 


SEXUAL  LIES,   MISCONCEPTIONS 
AND  EXAGGERATIONS 


EDITED  BY 

WILLIAM  J.  ROBINSON,  M.D. 


SPECIAL  LIMITED  EDITION 


PRIVATELY  PRINTED 


Copyright,  1919, 
BY  THE  CRITIC  &  GUIDE  Co. 


CONTENTS 

OUR  SEXUAL  MISERY.    By  William  J.  Robinson,  M.D. 

THE  SEXUAL  MISERY  OF  WOMAN.  By  Dr.  Max  Hirsch . 

THE  FRIGID  WOMAN.    By  Otto  Adler,  M.D.,  Berlin     . 

MISALLIANCES  AND  UNHAPPY  MARRIAGES — AN  IM- 
PORTANT BUT  NEVER  REFERRED  TO  CAUSE.  By 
William  J.  Robinson,  M.D 65 

SEXUAL  ABSTINENCE  AND  NERVOUSNESS.  By  Samuel 
A.  Tannenbaum,  M.D.,  New  York 75 

INSTRUCTING  THE  YOUNG  IN  SEXUAL  MATTERS.  By 
Dr.  Fritz  Wittels 133 

SEXUAL  ABSTINENCE  AND  MASTURBATION.  By  Dr. 
Fritz  Wittels 141 

SEXUAL  CAUSES  OF  DIVORCE.  By  Geh.  Justizrat 
Dr.  Horch 153 

THE  LAW  AGAINST  ABORTION — THE  GREATEST  CRIME          ( 
ON  THE  STATUTE  BOOKS.    By  Dr.  Fritz  Wittels  .      .     165 

COITUS  INTERBUPTUS  AS  A  CAUSE  OF  NERVOUS  DISEASE. 
By  Dr.  L.  Lowenfeld 185 

SEXUAL  ABSTINENCE  IN  MEN  AND  WOMEN.  By  Pro- 
fessor Johannes  Duck 197 

SEXUAL  HYPOCHONDRIA  AND  MORBID  SCRUPULOUS- 
NESS. By  Magnus  Hirschfeld,  M.D.,  Berlin  .  .  207 

THE  DOUBLE  STANDARD  OF  MORALITY.  By  Prof. 
Christian  von  Ehrenfels 227 

IDIOGAMY.  By  Professor  Paul  Mantegazza,  M.D., 
Florence 237 

CONTINENCE  IN  THE  Two  SEXES.  By  R.  W.  Shufeldt, 
M.D.,  Washington,  D.  C 245 

CRIME  AND  LAW,  WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  CRIMI- 
NAL ABORTION.  By  Prof.  J.  Kocks,  Bonn,  Germany  253 

Is  IT  REALLY  IMPOSSIBLE  TO  MAKE  PROSTITUTION 
HARMLESS  AS  FAR  AS  INFECTION  is  CONCERNED?  By 
Prof.  A.  Neisser,  Breslau,  Germany 261 

A  PROBLEM  IN  SEXUAL  ETHICS.  By  Prof.  Christian 
von  Ehrenfels 281 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

PROF.  EHRENFELS'  PROBLEM  IN  SEXUAL  ETHICS.  By 
William  J.  Robinson,  M.D 285 

EUGENICS,  SEXUAL  SIN,  IGNORANCE  AND  SUPERSTI- 
TION. By  W.  C.  Gates,  M.D 289 

Is  PLATONIC  LOVE  A  NORMAL  RELATION?  By  E.  R. 
Nash,  M.D 301 

THE  FEMALE  SEX  INSTINCT  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  OUR 
MORALITY.  By  Leo  M.  Gartman,  M.D 313 

THE  REGULATION  OF  OFFSPRING  AND  SEXUAL  MORAL- 
ITY. By  H.  Potthoff 335 

COITUS  AND  NIGHTMARES.  By  William  J.  Robinson, 
M.D 349 

A  CASE  OF  RAPE  ON  A  YOUNG  GIRL.  By  Dr.  F.  R. 
Bronson 353 

SEXUAL  ABSTINENCE  AND  ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  HEALTH. 
By  Professor  Anton  Nystrom,  M.D.,  Stockholm  .  .  361 

DISTINCTIONS  BETWEEN  THE  MALE  AND  FEMALE  SEX 
INSTINCT.  By  Dr.  Ludwig  Reisinger  .  .  .  .371 

Miscellaneous  Brief  Articles  by  the  Editor: 

DEATH  DURING  SEXUAL  INTERCOURSE 377 

WORRY  AND  LIBIDO 379 

FALSE  ACCUSATION  OF  RAPE 381 

NORMAL  vs.  ABNORMAL  SEXUALITY 382 

THE  TASK  OF  SEXOLOGY 383 

SEXOLOGY  vs.  OBSCENITY 384 

STRIKES  AGAINST  MARRIAGE  IN  ANCIENT  TIMES        .  386 
A    REMARKABLE    EXPERIMENT   IN   VENEREAL    PRO- 
PHYLAXIS    387 

UNCONSIDERED  EVILS  OF  THE  MASTURBATION  BOGIE   .  388 

Appendix  A 

THE  EFFECTS  OF  MASTURBATION — A  GENUINE  HU- 
MAN DOCUMENT 391 

MORALS  BY  POISON 396 

Appendix  B 

WHY  OLD  WOMEN  ARE  PREFERABLE  TO  YOUNG  FOR 
ILLICIT  RELATIONS.  A  Remarkable  Letter  by  Benjamin 
Franklin  .  397 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

OUR  SEXUAL  MISERY* 
BY  WILLIAM  J.  ROBINSON,  M.D.,  NEW  YOEK 

THE  subject  which  we  are  going  to  touch  upon  to- 
night is  so  immense  that  to  discuss  it  in  detail  would 
make  a  voluminous  book.  I  can  hope  to  uncover  only 
a  small  corner  of  it. 

It  would  not  be  difficult  to  have  you  agree  to  the 
proposition  that  there  is  an  enormous  lot  of  misery 
in  this  world.  The  most  callous,  the  most  stupid,  the 
most  indifferent  can  be  made  to  admit  it.  Even  the 
most  egotistic,  who  live  only  for  themselves,  and  to 
whom  Fortune  has  been  supremely  kind,  may  be 
made  to  acknowledge  that  there  is  a  terrible  lot  of 
unhappiness  in  every  sphere,  in  every  stratum  of  so- 
ciety. It  is  only  necessary  to  read  the  contents  of  a 
single  daily  newspaper,  to  take  a  walk  in  the  slums, 
to  get  a  peep  at  some  of  our  shops  and  factories,  to 
consider  the  amount  of  disease,  crime,  poverty,  to 
spend  a  day  in  our  day  courts  or  night  courts,  to  pay 
a  visit  to  some  of  our  hospitals,  asylums  or  prisons, 

*  A  lecture  delivered  before  The  Williamsburg  Medical  Society, 
February  13,  1917. 

7 


8  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

to  be  ready  to  subscribe  to  the  proposition  that  the 
world  is  full  of  misery.  Yes,  everybody,  conserva- 
tive and  radical,  rich  and  poor,  agree  more  or  less  on 
this  point,  on  the  point  of  the  existence  of  wretched 
misery. 

But  as  soon  as  the  question  of  the  causes  of  the 
misery  comes  up,  then  we  find  disagreement  and 
dissension.  And  the  dissension  becomes  still  more 
pronounced,  more  bitter  and  more  irreconcilable 
when  we  begin  to  discuss  the  remedies  for  the  va- 
rious evils  that  afflict  mankind. 

And  the  object  of  my  remarks  to-night  is  to  give 
you  my  idea  of  the  etiology  of  a  good  deal  of  our 
misery.  I  do  not  suppose  many  of  you  will  agree 
with  me,  not  at  first,  at  any  rate.  If  all  of  you  agreed, 
there  would  be  no  need  for  my  lecture.  If  there 
is  anything  I  detest,  anything  that  is  abhorrent  to 
my  whole  being,  it  is  to  repeat  platitudes,  to  an- 
nounce, with  a  show  of  courage  and  self-sacrifice, 
ideas  which  have  become  common  property,  which 
nobody  contests,  and  which  nobody  cares  for  any- 
way, whether  they  are  right  or  not. 

I  will  ask  you  to  transfer  yourselves  for  a  few 
moments  some  forty  or  fifty  thousand  years  back, 
and  cast  a  mental  glance  at  our  ancestors.  How 
did  man  spend  his  time,  what  were  his  occupations, 
what  were  his  interests?  He  was  busy  with  but  two 
things — to  hunt  for  food  so  that  he  might  fill  his 
belly,  and  to  find  a  mate.  At  the  time  we  speak  of, 
the  second  was  easier  than  the  first.  While  the  find- 


SEXUAL  TEUTHS  9 

ing  of  food  in  sufficient  quantity  to  satisfy  his  hunger 
at  all  seasons  presented,  particularly  in  some 
climates,  considerable  difficulties,  sexual  satisfac- 
tion presented  none.  There  were  no  laws  at  that 
time  against  promiscuous  sexual  satisfaction,  the 
Ten  Commandments  had  not  yet  been  handed  down, 
and  monogamy  was  even  undreamed  of.  Any  fe- 
male the  male  met  and  wanted,  he  took.  There  were 
no  restrictions  in  this  respect,  and  if  the  female  ever 
offered  resistance,  he  simply  knocked  her  on  the 
head  and  dragged  her  into  his  cave.  But  I  do  not 
imagine  that  there  were  many  such  cases  of  re- 
sistance and  that  in  those  primeval  times  the  male 
was  frequently  under  the  necessity  of  using  force 
on  the  female. 

Those  were  the  two  primal  instincts  of  our  dear 
and  respected  forefathers:  hunger  and  sex.  And 
they  still  remain  the  two  primal  instincts  of  man, 
as  of  every  other  animal,  to-day.  Civilized  man  has 
developed  a  thousand  other  needs.  I  need  not 
enumerate  them,  but  if  you  analyze  them,  you  will 
find  that  they  are  all  developments  of  and  are  predi- 
cated on  the  instincts  of  hunger  and  sex.  They  are 
all  merely  the  embellishments,  the  embroidery,  of 
our  life,  but  essentially  we  are  ruled  by  the  same 
instincts  as  were  our  ancestors  one  hundred  thousand 
or  a  million  years  ago,  and  as  are  all  other  animals 
now. 

But  in  one  respect  there  is  an  enormous  difference 
between  our  ancestors  of  long  ago  and  their 


10  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

descendants  of  to-day.  At  that  time,  as  stated,  the 
food  question  was  the  principal  one,  the  most  diffi- 
cult one — the  sex  question  was  the  easy  one  and 
presented  no  problems  and  no  difficulties.  Now 
things  are  just  the  other  way.  The  food  problem  or 
the  economic  problem  is  the  much  simpler  of  the 
two.  We  have  harnessed  the  forces  of  Nature,  we 
do  not  depend  upon  climate  or  season,  there  is 
plenty  of  food  for  everybody.  But  the  satisfaction 
of  the  sexual  necessity  has  been  surrounded  with  so 
many  obstacles,  has  been  made  so  difficult  or  im- 
possible as  to  lead  to  an  enormous  amount  of  physi- 
cal illness,  nervous  disease,  and  wretchedness  and 
misery  in  general.  These  difficulties,  these  obstacles, 
which  are  in  many  cases  insuperable,  have  been  put 
in  the  way  of  the  proper  satisfaction  of  the  sexual 
instincts  because  of  the  peculiar  notion  that  illicit 
sexual  relations,  that  is  sexual  relations  outside  of 
lawful  wedlock,  are  sinful  and  criminal. 

Of  course  if  you  believe  this,  if  you  maintain  the 
idea  that  all  extra-matrimonial  relations  are  crimi- 
nal, you  are  welcome  to  your  belief,  and  I  have  no 
quarrel  whatever  with  you.  It  is  a  belief  still  main- 
tained in  theory,  though  often  broken  in  practice, 
by  millions  and  millions  of  people.  But  you  will 
permit  me  to  speak  from  my  point  of  view,  the  point 
of  view  of  a  freethinker  and  an  advanced  sexologist. 
In  our  opinion  the  proper  satisfaction  of  the  sexual 
instinct  is  no  more  sinful,  no  more  criminal,  than  the 
satisfaction  of  the  instinct  of  hunger,  thirst,  or  sleep. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  11 

We  maintain  that  the  relations  between  two  adult 
persons  are  the  concern  of  those  two  adults  only  and 
of  nobody  else.  No  third  person  and  certainly  no 
State  has  any  right  whatever  to  interfere  in  the 
sex  relations  of  two  adult  persons.  It  is  only  where 
minors  are  concerned,  or  where  force  is  used  or 
where  children  are  the  result  that  the  State  has  a 

right  to  step  in. 

*  #  # 

Both  those  who  are  sincerely  religious  and  those 
who  are  hypocritically  pious — the  former  I  respect, 
the  latter  I  despise — maintain  that  illicit  sex  rela- 
tions are  sinful  and  criminal,  and  in  order  to  main- 
tain this  thesis,  which  attempts  to  imprison,  to  per- 
vert and  to  degenerate  one  of  the  most  powerful  of 
our  natural  instincts,  an  enormous  literature  has 
grown  up,  full  of  misinformation,  exaggeration  and 
deliberate  lies,  all  calculated  to  persuade  the  young 
men  of  the  country  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a 
sexual  instinct,  or  that  its  non-satisfaction  is  an  easy 
matter,  that  it  is  given  us  for  the  purpose  of  procrea- 
tion only,  that  complete  and  absolute  chastity  is  not 
only  non-injurious  but  even  beneficial  and  conducive 
to  good  health,  and  that  all  illicit  relations  are  sure 
to  lead  to  physical,  moral  and  mental  disaster. 

In  former  years  all  those  indulging  in  illicit  rela- 
tions were  threatened  with  hell  fire.  But  now  as 
hell  fire  is  going  out  of  fashion  and  is  losing  its  ter- 
rors for  some  of  us,  theology  is  calling  to  its  aid 
science,  to  prop  up  its  tottering  sway  over  the  hu- 


12  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

man  mind.  Of  course  it  isn't  real  science  that  is 
coming  to  the  support  of  theology,  it  is  pseudo- 
science  masquerading  in  the  garb  of  true  science  that 
is  willing  to  prostitute  itself  for  the  sake  of  a  totter- 
ing theology  and  a  moribund  morality.  To  pay  at- 
tention to  what  our  esteemed  reverends  say  in  sup- 
port of  a  medieval  morality  would  be  a  waste  of 
time,  but  let  me  give  you  some  examples  of  what 
some  physicians,  who  are  supposed  to  be  scientists, 
but  which  alas  they  very  seldom  are,  say  on  the 
subject. 

We  will  first  take  a  statement  made  by  Dr.  W.  S, 
Hall,  who  is  Professor  of  Physiology  in  the  North- 
western University  of  Illinois,  and  who  is  considered 
one  of  our  great  educators  and  authorities  on  sex 
matters.  That  Professor  of  Physiology,  whom  we 
certainly  have  a  right  to  expect  to  be  capable  of 
honest  and  logical  thinking,  makes  the  following 
statement  in  one  of  his  books.  "Nature,"  he  says, 
"has  devised  a  retribution  for  illicit  intercourse  in 
the  form  of  venereal  disease."  These  are  exactly  his 
words.  Their  significance  may  not  be  apparent  to 
you  at  first  glance,  but  they  will  become  so  if  you 
consider  the  matter  for  a  moment.  So  solicitous  is 
Nature  about  man's  sexual  morality  that  in  order 
to  keep  him  strictly  within  the  confines  of  monogamic 
relations,  she  has  created  the  gonococcus,  the 
spirocheta  pallida,  and  the  bacillus  of  Ducrey :  and 
she  stands  ready  to  punish  him  with  gonorrhea, 
syphilis  or  chancroid  if  he  dares  to  commit  the  crime 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  13 

of  indulging  in  extra-matrimonial  relations.  I  asked 
Professor  Hall  over  a  year  ago  to  tell  me  if  Nature 
created  the  gonococcus,  the  spirocheta  pallida  and 
the  "bacillus  of  Ducrey  as  a  punishment  for  illicit 
relations,  what  was  her  purpose  in  creating  the 
bacillus  of  tuberculosis,  of  diphtheria,  of  smallpox, 
of  scarlet  fever,  of  tetanus,  of  anthrax,  of  dysentery, 
etc.,  etc.  ?  If  venereal  disease  was  a  retribution  for 
illicit  relations,  what  was  Bright 's  disease,  heart 
disease,  liver  disease,  measles,  poliomyelitis,  etc., 
etc.  a  retribution  for?  But  the  clear  and  honest 
thinker,  Professor  Hall,  has  not  answered  my  ques- 
tion yet. 

No,  venereal  disease  is  not  a  retribution.  It  is 
simply  an  accident,  a  very  unfortunate  and  very  de- 
plorable accident,  an  accident  that  is  responsible  for 
more  misery  than  any  other  disease  which  the  human 
race  is  subject  to,  but  an  accident  nevertheless.  And 
to  speak  of  it  as  retribution  is  false,  stupid  and  dis- 
honest. The  gonococcus  and  the  spirocheta  pallida 
were  " created"  for  no  greater  and  no  lesser  purpose 
and  have  no  greater  and  no  lesser  reason  for  exist- 
ence than  have  the  streptococcus,  the  staphylococ- 
cus,  the  pneumococcus  and  the  thousand  and  one 
other  varieties  of  microscopic  life. 

Here  is  a  statement  from  another  scientist  and 
so-called  leader  of  the  medical  profession,  who  is 
supposed  to  be  a  specialist  in  venereal  diseases  and 
sexual  disorders.  I  refer  to  Dr.  E.  L.  Keyes.  In  a 
pamphlet  sent  out  broadcast  by  the  Social  Hygiene 


14  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

Society,  Dr.  Keyes  combats,  of  course,  the  idea  that 
continence  is  in  any  way  injurious. 

He  says  that  our  whole  trouble  results  from  "the 
idea  that  sexual  exercise  is,  on  the  whole,  salutary 
to  the  male,  if  not  essential  to  the  best  performance 
of  his  other  general  physical  functions,  and  neces- 
sary for  the  preservation  of  his  sexual  potency." 
"From  a  medical  source,"  he  says,  "should  come 
some  authoritative  utterance  in  contraversion  of  this 
fallacy,"  and  he  proceeds  to  contravert  it.  How?  In 
the  same  wretched  way — by  comparing  the  testicle, 
which  performs  the  most  important  function  in  the 
human  body,  to  the  tear  gland  which  performs  a 
function  of  no  importance  whatever.  He  indulges  in 
some  theoretical,  disconnected  rambling,  but  he  has 
reserved  his  knockout  argument  for  the  end.  He  de- 
cides, "to  leave  theory  and  opinion,  and  come  down 
to  a  matter  of  hard  fact  capable  of  physical  demon- 
stration. ' '  What  is  the  hard  fact  capable  of  physi- 
cal demonstration?  Here  it  is.  "It  may  be  safely 
and  surely  affirmed  that  no  amount  of  continence 
ever  caused  atrophy  of  the  testicle.  Now,  if  con- 
tinence, too  long  continued,  can  produce  impotence, 
that  fact  should  be  evidenced  by  a  wasting  of  the 
testicle."  (Italics  mine). 

How  a  specialist  in  venereal  and  sexual  disorders 
can  be  guilty  of  such  ignorance  is  beyond  under- 
standing. No  sexologist  has  ever  claimed  that  con- 
tinence necessarily  or  even  frequently  results  in 
atrophy  of  the  testicle.  And  it  shows  the  deepest 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  15 

ignorance  to  claim  that  impotence  must  be  evidenced 
by  a  wasting  of  the  testes.  Every-tyro  in  sexology 
knows  that  when  we  speak  of  impotence  we  speak  of 
impotence  to  perform  the  act.  When  we  say  that 
long  continued  continence  frequently  results  in  im- 
potence, we  refer  to  impotentia  coeundi,  and  not  to 
impotentia  generandi.  Impotence  resulting  from 
long  continence  does  not  show  itself  in  a  wasting 
of  the  testicle,  in  an  abolition  of  the  spermatogenetic 
function,  but  m  weak  or  absent  erections  and  in 
premature  ejaculations.  *  The  two  functions  may  be 
entirely  independent  of  one  another.  Just  as  a  man 
who  is  completely  sterile,  like  after  a  double  epi- 
didymitis,  may  still  be  sexually  very  potent,  so  a 
man  who  is  not  sterile  and  whose  spermatogenetic 
function  is  perfect,  may  be  completely  impotent  as 
far  as  the  performance  of  the  act  is  concerned. 

And  for  a  specialist  who  has  been  specially  asked 
to  discuss  the  sexual  necessity  from  the  medical 
point  of  view,  not  to  differentiate  between  impo- 
tentia coeundi  and  impotentia  generandi  is  an  un- 
pardonable blunder.  It  is  a  scientific  crime. 

But  such  is  the  puritanical  food  on  which  our 
young  men  are  fed,  and  so  is  Science  perverted  for 
ulterior  ends. 


*  There  are  cases  in  which  on  account  of  excessive  pollutions  and 
spermatorrhea  atrophy  of  the  testicles  may  take  place,  but  such 
extreme  cases  are  rare,  and  they  are  not  at  all  necessary  to  support 
our  thesis  of  the  great  injuriousness  of  long  continued  sexual 
abstinence. 


16  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

Every  statement  concerning  the  sex  instinct,  the 
injuriousness  or  non-injuriousness  of  continence, 
the  extent,  curability,  or  non-curability  of  venereal 
disease,  every  statement  regarding  prostitution,  is 
honeycombed  with  falsehood.  Some  of  the  false- 
hoods are  due  to  ignorance,  well-meaning  ignorance, 
but  ignorance  nevertheless,  while  some  of  the  false- 
hoods or  misstatements  I  cannot  help  regarding 
otherwise  than  deliberate.  One  does  not  know 
whether  to  weep  or  to  laugh.  In  one  breath  the  lec- 
turer or  writer  will  make  the  statement  that  the 
American  youth  differs  from  the  European  young 
man,  that  he  has  higher  ideals,  that  his  thoughts  are 
not  fixed  on  sex,  that  he  is  pure  and  noble,  that  sex 
plays  but  a  very  subordinate  role  in  his  life,  and 
that  it  isn't  at  all  difficult  for  him  to  remain  strictly 
chaste  until  the  day  of  his  wedding  bells,  no  matter 
whether  they  ring  on  his  thirtieth  or  fortieth  birth- 
day. And  in  the  very  next  breath  he  will  say  that 
at  least  90  per  cent,  of  our  men  have  suffered  at  one 
time  or  another  from  venereal  disease! 

In  a  booklet  just  out  and  received  by  me  only  this 
morning,  which  bears  the  ambitious  title  ' '  Sex  Prob- 
lems of  Men  in  Health  and  Disease"  by  Dr.  Moses 
Scholtz,  the  following  statement  occurs  (page  65) 
— I  give  the  statement  verbatim — "A  conservative 
estimate  of  the  spread  of  venereal  disease,  in  the 
writer's  opinion,  would  be  that  from  every  100  men 
at  least  90  have  had  at  one  time  or  another  a  venereal 
infection."  Mind  you,  this  is  a  conservative  esti- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  17 

mate,  and  the  author  says  at  least  90  out  of  every 
100 !  "We  have  a  right  to  assume  that  at  a  liberal  esti- 
mate and  leaving  out  the  words  "at  least,"  ahout 
200  or  say  150  out  of  every  100  (sic!)  men  have  had 
venereal  disease  at  one  time  or  another ! 

To  us,  unbiased  investigators,  the  thing  is  so  ab- 
surd that  its  very  absurdity  defeats  it.  But  if  a 
layman  reads  it,  and  it  is  for  laymen  that  the  book 
is  intended,  he  takes  it  for  pure  coin,  and  either  be- 
comes panicky,  or  if  he  happens  to  have  escaped 
venereal  disease  he  is  apt  to  pat  himself  on  the  back 
for  his  great  good  fortune  or  great  virtue  which  put 
him  in  the  class  of  the  less  than  10  per  cent,  that 
are  free  from  venereal  diseases.  The  idiots  who 
make  the  statements  of  at  least  90  per  cent,  of  all 
males  being  afflicted  with  venereal  disease,  do  not 
take  into  consideration  the  thought  that  if  this  were 
so  there  would  be  absolutely  nothing  to  worry  about. 
For  if  with  90  per  cent,  of  humanity  afflicted  with 
venereal  diseases  the  human  race  is  nevertheless 
growing,  progressing,  and  increasing  in  numbers, 
widening  its  knowledge,  making  new  inventions,  etc., 
etc.,  in  short  making  progress  in  every  line  of  hu- 
man activity,  what  is  there  to  worry  about? 

No,  these  statements  about  the  extent  of  venereal 
diseases  are  just  as  stupid  as  they  are  false.  They 
are  just  as  stupid  and  false  as  are  the  statements 
about  the  incurability  of  venereal  disease,  which  are 
also  made  by  well-meaning  fools  who  believe  that 
fear  of  venereal  disease,  which  fear  is  made  more 


18  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

terrifying  by  the  knowledge  of  its  incurability,  will 

act  as  a  deterrent  to  illicit  sexual  relations. 

*  *  * 

To  expose  all  the  falsehoods  that  have  been  made 
in  reference  to  one  phase  of  our  sex  life,  namely 
prostitution,  would  alone  occupy  a  volume.  Besides 
the  subject  is  so  dangerous  that  even  I,  with  my 
well-attested  courage,  am  afraid  to  touch  it.  But  if 
I  were  not  afraid,  this  is  what  I  would  say.  I  would 
say  that  everything  that  has  been  told  you  about  the 
physical,  mental  and  moral  condition  of  the  prosti- 
tute is  false.  Stupidly,  pitifully  false.  You  have 
been  told  that  the  average  life  of  the  prostitute  is 
between  three  and  four  years.  It  used  to  be  three 
years.  Then  they  gave  her  four,  then  they  gave  her 
five  and  now,  I  believe,  they  are  giving  her  an  aver- 
age of  six  or  seven.  This  is  rot.  The  average  life 
of  the  prostitute  is  just  as  long,  if  not  longer,  as  the 
average  of  the  community,  and  many  of  them  are  in 
splendid  health  and  of  good  appearance  after  fifteen, 
twenty  or  twenty-five  years  of  plying  their  trade. 
A  few  of  them,  those  who  become  addicted  to  alco- 
hol and  drugs,  have  a  short  life.  But  there  are  many 
people  who  are  not  prostitutes  and  who  are  addicted 
to  alcohol  and  drugs.  The  better  class  take  very 
good  care  of  themselves,  live  better  hygienic  lives 
than  their  sisters  in  the  same  strata  of  society  from 
which  they  come,  and  therefore  are  in  better  health. 
A  recent  investigation,  for  instance,  in  the  City  of 
Cleveland,  an  abstract  of  which  appeared  in  "The 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  19 

Survey,'*  shows  that  they  are  remarkably  free  from 
tuberculosis,  and  that  even  some  of  them  entering 
upon  the  life  of  prostitution  with  incipient  tubercu- 
losis, have  recovered  from  it  while  leading  a  life  of 
prostitution.  So  much  for  their  general  health. 

"We  have  also  been  told  that  every  or  practically 
every  prostitute  is  afflicted  with  venereal  disease.  In 
that  same  booklet  from  which  I  quoted  before,  the 
following  statement  occurs :  ' '  It  is  well  established 
that  every  prostitute  is  affected  with  gonorrhea  or 
syphilis,  and  mostly  with  both,  and  that  they  practi- 
cally at  all  times  carry  this  disease  in  active  or  latent 
form. ' '  Another  lie.  The  prostitute  of  to-day  knows 
that  her  livelihood  depends  upon  her  being  sexually 
healthy,  she  knows  how  to  take  care  of  herself  and 
she  does  take  care  of  herself.  Before  and  after  each 
relation  she  uses  a  strongly  antiseptic  douche  which 
makes  venereal  infection  practically  impossible. 
And  many  of  my  male  patients  tell  me  that  they  are 
always  subjected  to  a  very  painstaking  examina- 
tion, and  at  the  very  least  suspicious  discharge  or 
moisture  from  the  meatus  the  women  refuse  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  them  except  with  the  use  of  a 
condom.  There  are  many  women  who  have  been 
prostitutes  for  five  or  ten  or  more  years  without  ever 
contracting  disease. 

I  trust  that  the  evil-minded  will  not  take  this  state- 
ment of  mine  as  an  excuse  for  plunging  carelessly 
into  orgies  with  prostitutes.  For  if  one  becomes  in- 
fected it  is  little  consolation  to  him  to  know  that 


20  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

nine  of  his  friends  escaped  it.  Care  and  venereal 
prophylaxis  are  just  as  important  no  matter  whether 
ten  or  fifty  per  cent,  of  prostitutes  are  venereally 
infected.  But  I  do  not  believe  in  perverting  the  truth 
for  any  cause,  especially  for  such  a  vicious  cause  as 
frightening  the  people  away  from  satisfying  their 
natural  instincts. 

Then  you  have  been  told  that  all  prostitutes,  or 
at  least  a  large  percentage  of  them,  are  mentally 
defective.  This  is  also  rot.  Those  who  have  made 
the  investigations  investigated  only  those  failures 
that  were  arrested,  that  is,  those  who  were  not  clever 
enough  to  keep  out  of  the  clutches  of  the  detestable 
agents  of  a  detestable  law.  The  fact  is  that  the  pros 
titute  is  mentally  at  least  equal,  if  not  superior,  to 
her  sister  of  the  same  stratum  from  which  she  comes. 
In  comparing  people  we  must  of  course  always  com- 
pare people  of  the  same  stratum,  with  the  same 
hereditary  and  environmental  advantages  and  disad- 
vantages. 

As  to  the  prostitute's  morality,  to  the  conventional 
it  seems  a  funny  thing  to  discuss.  But  leaving  out 
that  one  element  of  chastity,  which  may  and  may  not 
be  an  element  of  morality,  the  prostitute  is  very 
often  a  very  moral  creature.  That  she  is  kind- 
hearted,  generous,  charitable,  often  self-sacrificing 
and  will  frequently  go  to  great  lengths  to  help  or 
save  a  friend,  everybody  will  confirm  who  has  had 
opportunity  of  coming  in  contact  with  her  and  knows 
some  of  the  intimate  details  of  her  life. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  21 

And  further,  if  it  was  not  a  dangerous  thing  to 
do,  I  would  tell  you  that  I  consider  the  practice  or 
trade  of  prostitution  a  perfectly  legitimate  occupa- 
tion. I  would  tell  you  that  in  my  opinion  the  pros- 
titute should  be  left  alone  to  practice  her  trade  free- 
ly and  unmolested,  and  that  she  should  be  interfered 
with  only  when  she  becomes  a  public  nuisance  or 
when  she  is  venereally  diseased.  I  would  tell  you 
that  I  consider  our  treatment  of  the  prostitute  out- 
rageous and  criminal,  and  I  believe  that  future  gen- 
erations will  agree  with  my  opinion.  I  would  tell 
you  that  I  consider  the  policeman  or  plain  clothes 
man  who  traps  the  streetwalker  and  arrests  her 
[and  occasionally  even  the  judge  who  sentences  her] , 
morally  inferior  to  her.  I  would  tell  you  these  and 
many  other  things  if  I  were  not  afraid  to  shock  you. 
But  as  I  am  afraid,  I  will  not  touch  upon  the  subject 

further  and  will  proceed  with  my  lecture. 

*  *  * 

"What  is  the  result  of  this  attempt  at  chaining  or 
imprisoning  the  sex  instinct?  What  is  the  result  of 
the  numerous  obstacles  which  have  been  put  in  the 
way  of  the  normal  satisfaction  of  the  sex  urge  ?  What 
is  the  result  of  the  terror  which  we  try  to  implant 
in  the  mind  of  every  young  man  to  keep  him  away 
from  illicit  relations  I  What  is  the  result  of  the  fear 
of  venereal  disease,  of  the  humiliation,  of  the  social 
ostracism,  which  the  young  man  must  fight  and  over- 
come if  he  wishes  to  satisfy  his  imperious,  irresisti- 
ble sexual  desire! 


22  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

The  result  is  that  we  are  becoming  a  nation  of 
impotents.  And  this  is  the  particular  theme  of  my 
discourse  this  evening.  We  have  been  told  that  90 
per  cent,  of  all  men  have  at  one  time  or  another  suf- 
fered with  gonorrhea  and  that  25  to  50  per  cent,  of 
men  are  infected  with  syphilis.  These  are  wildly 
exaggerated  statements.  But  what  I  am  going  to 
tell  you  is  true.  The  most  widespread  of  all  dis- 
orders of  men  in  any  Anglo-Saxon  community,  is 
sexual  impotence,  or  to  be  more  specific,  premature 
ejaculations.  This  has  become  the  universal  disease 
among  the  male  portion  of  our  urban  population. 
And  while  this  disease  or  disorder  is  prevalent  in 
every  stratum  of  society,  it  is  particularly  prevalent 
among  the  educated  and  professional  classes.  I 
make  this  statement  without  further  qualification — 
that  in  any  audience  of  professional  men,  be  they 
lawyers,  clergymen,  writers,  bankers,  or  physicians, 
at  least  75  per  cent,  will  be  found  to  suffer  from 
sexual  weakness  in  some  form  or  another,  prema- 
ture ejaculation  being  the  most  prevalent  form.  In 
giving  the  figures  as  75  per  cent.  I  am  conservative. 
For  I  will  tell  you  frankly  that  I  do  not  believe  that 
in  any  audience  of  1,000,  or  10,000,  or  100,000  adult 
males  you  will  find  25  per  cent,  fully  virile,  normally 
potent.  If  you  doubt  this  statement,  ask  your  friends 
whose  confidence  you  enjoy,  but  particularly  ask 
their  wives. 

I  well  know  the  objection  that  may  be  raised.  The 
statement  may  justly  be  made  that  I  have  a  wrong 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  23 

perspective,  that  I  have  the  narrow  view  of  the  spe- 
cialist, that  a  man  who  treats  a  certain  form  of 
disease  is  bound  to  begin  to  believe  that  all  the  world 
is  suffering  from  that  disease.  That  is  a  danger 
which  many  specialists  have  been  unable  to  escape. 
But  I  believe  that  I  can  truly  say  that  I  am  free  from 
the  specialist's  narrow  viewpoint.  At  least  I  have 
always  been  fighting  against  the  specialistic  bias  and 
I  believe  that  I  have  succeeded.  Though  a  venereal 
specialist,  I  have  never  for  a  moment  accepted  the 
ridiculous  figures  of  the  extent  of  venereal  disease 
of  my  professional  brethren.  I  never  believed  in 
the  90  or  80  per  cent,  of  gonorrhea,  and  in  the  50  or 
25  per  cent,  of  syphilis.  My  figures  have  always  been 
about  15  or  20  per  cent,  of  gonorrhea  and  about  2 
per  cent,  of  syphilis.  And  those  are  liberal  figures. 
But  I  am  sure  that  I  am  rather  understating  than 
overstating  the  truth  when  I  claim  that  at  least  75 
per  cent,  of  all  male  adults  are  more  or  less  sexually 
impotent.  Mind  you,  not  sterile,  but  impotent.  Do 
not  confuse  impotentia  coeundi  with  impotentia 
generandi.  THE  MAN  WHO  is  SEXUALLY  PEKFECTLY, 

VIGOROUSLY  POTENT,  POSSESSING  ALL  THE  FOUR  ELE- 
MENTS OF  A  SATISFACTORY  SEXUAL  RELATION,  NAMELY,  A 
STRONG  LIBIDO,  STRONG  ERECTION,  PROPER  EJACULATION 
TIME  AND  PROPER  ORGASTIC  FEELING  IS  BECOMING  A 

RARITY.  And  the  cause  of  it  is  our  wretchedly  false 
teaching,  our  wretchedly  false  code  of  sexual 
morality.  The  code  that  teaches  that  illicit  relations 


24  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

are  sinful  and  criminal,  and  that  puts  every  possible 
physical,  legal,  moral,  mental  and  social  obstacle  in 
the  way  of  satisfying  an  instinct  which  is  the  most 
important  of  all  our  instincts.  I  said  the  most  im- 
portant, and  I  repeat  it. 

While  the  hunger  instinct  is  the  basic  fundamental 
instinct,  it  is  the  egotistic  instinct.  It  is  the  instinct 
which  concerns  the  individual  alone,  while  the  sex 
instinct  is  the  social  or  altruistic  instinct.  It  is  the 
instinct  which  not  only  makes  the  perpetuation  of 
the  race  possible,  but  which  is  the  foundation  of  all 
our  family  and  social  life.  "While  the  hunger  in- 
stinct is  responsible  for  the  various  scientific  and 
technical  inventions,  the  sex  instinct  is  responsible 
for  everything  that  is  beautiful  in  the  world,  is  re- 
sponsible for  the  arts,  for  painting,  sculpture,  litera- 
ture, beautiful  clothes  and  every  sort  of  ornamenta- 
tion, in  short  for  everything  that  makes  life  pleasant 
and  pleasurable.  There  are  some  people  who  be- 
lieve only  in  the  usefulness  of  the  useful,  but  I  be- 
lieve with  the  Bishop  in  Hugo's  "Les  Miserables" 
that  the  beautiful  is  as  useful  as  the  useful  if  not 
more  so.  The  Bishop  said  that  in  comparing  the 
relative  importance  of  a  rose  and  a  piece  of  bread. 
The  piece  of  bread  is  more  useful  and  more  neces- 
sary than  the  rose,  but  man  cannot  live  by  bread 
alone,  and  after  we  have  the  piece  of  bread  the  long- 
ing for  the  rose  is  just  as  imperious,  just  as  urgent 
as  the  longing  for  the  piece  of  bread  when  we  are 


SEXUAL  TEUTHS  25 

hungry.    And  the  hungry  heart  can  give  as  severe 

pangs  as  a  hungry  stomach — some  say  more  severe. 

#  *  * 

A  few  words  about  the  causative  relationship  be- 
tween our  sexual  code  and  sexual  impotence.  In 
many  cases  the  impotence  is  due  directly  to  pro- 
longed abstinence.  When  a  strong,  normal  young 
man  has  frequent  libidinous  desires  which  for  one 
reason  or  another,  either  religious  bringing-up,  moral 
scruples,  fear  of  venereal  infection,  fear  of  social 
ostracism  on  being  found  out,  lack  of  opportunity  or 
lack  of  money,  he  is  unable  to  satisfy,  he  develops  a 
congestion  in  the  posterior  urethra  and  in  the 
prostrate  which  may  lead  to  prostatitis  or  prostatic 
atony,  which  in  their  turn  lead  to  imperfect  erections 
and  to  premature  ejaculations. 

Another  way  which  leads  to  impotence  is  indirect- 
ly through  masturbation.  Only  very,  very  few  nor- 
mal males  who  are  unable  to  live  a  normal  sex  life 
can  abstain  from  masturbation.  And  while  occa- 
sional masturbation  is  harmless,  the  trouble  is  that 
people  with  weak  will-power,  of  a  neurotic  consti- 
tution or  born  with  a  psychopathic  taint  may  become 
slaves  to  the  habit,  and  that  excessive  masturbation 
may  in  many  cases  lead  to  impotence  there  can  be 
no  question.  But  I  would  like  to  stop  here  for  a 
moment  and  emphasize  the  point  that  the  evil  results 
of  masturbation  have  been  shamefully  and  stupidly 
exaggerated,  and  that  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases 
masturbation  leads  to  no  disastrous  results  and  it  is 


26  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

better  for  a  man  who  cannot  satisfy  his  sex  instinct 
naturally  to  indulge  in  occasional  masturbation  than 
to  fight  day  and  night  with  his  thoughts,  and  use  up 
his  strength  and  his  energy  in  mastering  his  desires. 
Another  way  in  which  our  sexual  code  with  its 
resulting  abstinence  may  lead  to  impotence  is 
through  pollutions.  This  is  a  very  common  road. 
A  good  many  more  people  become  impotent  through 
excessive  pollutions  than  through  masturbation.  I 
cannot  refrain  from  stopping  here  for  a  few  mo- 
ments to  refer  to  the  hypocrisy  and  ignorance  of  our 
theologic  sexologists,  as  exemplified  in  their  treat- 
ment of  these  two  phenomena  of  our  sex  life,  mas- 
turbation and  pollutions.  Masturbation  being  some- 
thing that  depends  more  or  less  upon  the  individual's 
will,  is  pictured  in  the  most  lurid  colors  as  the  source 
of  all  possible  evils,  physical,  moral,  and  mental. 
Pollutions  being  something  for  which  the  individual 
cannot  even  by  the  severest  theologians  be  held  re- 
sponsible, is  pictured  as  a  harmless  phenomenon  to 
which  no  attention  need  be  paid.  In  fact  by  many 
of  our  sex  writers  it  is  considered  a  wonderful  pro- 
vision of  Nature.  "Nature,"  says  one  of  these  sexol- 
ogists, "has  certainly  provided  man  with  a  won- 
derful self-regulating  appliance,  which  fact  explodes 
the  popular  belief  about  danger  to  health  in  over- 
accumulation  of  the  seminal  secretions  in  the  body. 
Whenever  such  accumulation  of  the  seminal  fluid 
takes  place  in  a  healthy  man,  and  he  begins  to  feel  a 
certain  nervous  tension  and  blood-flushes,  Nature 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  27 

opens  her  safety-valve  and  the  over-distended  semi- 
nal vesicles  by  pressure  bring  in  motion  the  nervous 
muscular  apparatus  of  the  sexual  organs,  and  this 
accumulated  surplus  comes  out  at  night  in  sleep  as 
a  ''wet  dream,"  night  emission,  medically  called 
"pollution."  The  best  proof  that  this  phenomenon 
is  normal,  natural  and  purposeful  can  be  seen  in  the 
fact  that  the  morning  after  it  the  man  loses  all  the 
disturbing  sensations  of  nervous  tension  and  at  once 
regains  his  freshness  and  vigor.  A  man  may  have 
these  emissions  once  or  twice  a  month,  even  once  a 
week,  and  he  does  not  have  to  worry  about  it  in  the 
least,  provided  that  after  each  night  emission  he  feels 
fresher  and  more  vigorous  than  before  it." 

Yes,  provided  that  after  each  night  emission  he 
feels  fresher  and  more  vigorous  than  before  it.  But 
how  about  it  if  he  feels  less  fresh  and  less  vigorous 
than  before1?  How  about  it  if  he  feels  the  next  morn- 
ing like  a  wet  rag,  with  pain  in  his  neck  and  in  the 
small  of  his  back,  unable  to  concentrate  his  mind  on 
anything,  with  rings  around  his  eyes,  and  so  forth? 
What  then  T  This  our  hypocritical  sexologist  leaves 
untouched. 

Another  sexologist  in  a  recently  published  book 
tries  to  make  us  believe  that  every  case  of  pollutions 
can  be  cured  by  potassium  bromide  and  an  instilla- 
tion of  nitrate  of  silver.  This  again  is  prostituting 
science  to  ulterior  ends.  There  are  many  cases  of 
pollutions  in  which  an  instillation  of  silver  nitrate, 
no  matter  how  weak,  will  intensify  the  pollutions 


28  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

and  so  will  potassium  bromide.  In  short,  there  are 
cases  of  pollutions  which  cannot  be  cured  by  any 
other  means  except  by  normal  sexual  intercourse. 
But  this  our  sexo-theologians  will  not  admit. 

Another  relatively  small  percentage  of  sexual  im- 
potence is  caused  by  sexual  excesses,  that  is,  I  mean 
by  excessive  normal  sexual  intercourse.  And  this  I 
also  consider  a  direct  result  of  our  vicious  sexual 
morality.  The  man  who  is  in  good  economic  cir- 
cumstances and  knows  that  he  is  secure  with  his 
three  meals  a  day,  does  not  overeat.  He  partakes 
moderately  at  each  meal  of  as  much  as  his  system 
needs.  But  the  poor  man,  who  is  one-half  or  two- 
thirds  of  the  time  hungry,  is  apt  to  overeat  when  he 
gets  a  chance,  is  apt  to  gorge  himself  until  he  ruins 
his  stomach.  Many  of  the  poor  derelicts  become  sick 
after  the  Christmas  dinner  which  is  spread  for  them 
by  our  well-meaning,  kind-hearted  Salvation  Army 
lassies.  And  so  it  is  with  our  sex  relations.  The 
normal  satisfaction  of  the  sex  instinct  being  sur- 
rounded by  so  many  obstacles  of  every  kind  and 
description,  the  man  who  gets  a  chance  of  satisfying 
his  instinct  is  very  apt  to  overdo  it,  because  he  does 
not  know  how  soon  he  may  get  another  chance.  He 
is  apt  to  indulge  in  incredible  excesses,  until  the  re- 
sult is  impotence,  which  fortunately  in  this  case  is 
usually  temporary. 

These  are  the  various  avenues  through  which 
thousands  and  thousands  of  our  men  arrive  at  the 
sad  goal  of  sexual  impotence.  But  sexual  impotence 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  29 

is  not  the  only  result.  We  have  the  vast  and  con- 
stantly growing  amount  of  sexual  neurasthenia, 
which  is  quite  different  from  sexual  impotence, 
though  unfortunately  often  confused  by  our  superfi- 
cial sex  writers.  Sexual  impotence  may  coexist  with 
sexual  neurasthenia,  but  on  the  other  hand  a  person 
may  be  sexually  impotent  without  a  trace  of  neu- 
rasthenia, and  a  person  may  be  sexually  neuras- 
thenic and  be  very  potent  sexually.  Then  we  have 
the  numerous  perversions  and  the  many  cases  of 
inversions,  which  are  the  direct  result  of  our  sexual 
repression.  I  cannot  go  into  greater  details  on  this 
point,  for  the  subject  is  large  enough  to  take  up  an 
evening  in  itself.  And  then  last  but  not  least  we 
have  the  enormous  number  of  neuroses  and  a  smaller 
number  of  psychoses,  which  are  directly  traceable 
to  sexual  repressions.  Whatever  you  may  think  of 
the  Freudians  and  their  philosophy,  whatever  you 
may  think  of  some  of  the  undoubted  exaggerations 
and  extravagances  of  the  psychoanalytic  school, 
nobody  who  has  given  the  subject  unbiased  study 
can  deny  that  Freud  has  proved  beyond  doubt  the 
connection  between  sexual  repression  and  nervous- 
ness and  neuroses,  and  for  that  alone  if  for  nothing 
else  he  has  made  himself  immortal. 

What  shall  we  as  physicians  do  in  the  matter? 
We  cannot  change  the  moral  code  or  the  religious 
ideas  of  a  people,  not  at  once  at  any  rate.  But  it  is 
our  duty  to  tell  the  truth  as  we  see  it,  uninfluenced 
by  any  outside  considerations.  It  is  our  duty  to 


30  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

teach  that  sexual  abstinence  beyond  a  certain  period 
is  injurious  and  capable  of  producing  some  very 
disastrous  results.  It  is  our  duty  to  teach  that  the 
sex  instinct  is  not  only  a  natural,  normal  instinct, 
but  that  its  satisfaction  is  necessary  to  the  physical 
and  mental  welfare  of  the  individual.  It  is  our  duty 
to  teach  that  the  sex  instinct  has  another  purpose 
beside  that  of  propagation  of  the  race,  that  as  a 
matter  of  fact  the  propagation  of  the  race  is  but  a 
small  part  of  the  sex  instinct.  And  particularly  is 
it  our  duty  to  fight  those  who  don  the  garb  of  science 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  greater  weight  to  their 
false  and  pernicious  teachings. 

A  society  like  our  Society  of  Social  Hygiene,  which 
is  an  outgrowth  of  the  Society  for  Moral  and  Sani- 
tary Prophylaxis,  is  in  some  respects  doing  more 
harm  than  good.  It  is  doing  some  good,  but  the 
harm  it  does  perhaps  outweighs  the  good.  Its 
hypocrisy  begins  with  its  very  name — "Social  Hy- 
giene" means  nothing.  Keeping  the  rivers  pure, 
examining  the  milk,  preventing  the  spread  of  ty- 
phoid fever,  is  also  social  hygiene.  Its  name,  if 
anything,  ought  to  be  "The  Sexual  Hygiene  So- 
ciety," or  "Venereal  Hygiene  Society."  The  Ger- 
man Society,  which  is  older  than  our  Society,  has 
the  plain  title  "Society  for  Combating  Venereal 
Disease."  And  while  it  preaches  that  abstinence 
up  to  a  certain  point  is  a  good  thing,  it  also  very 
definitely  and  very  decidedly  advises  the  use  of 
venereal  prophylactics.  But  this,  the  most  important 


SEXUAL  TEUTHS  31 

point  in  limiting  the  extent  of  venereal  disease,  our 
Society  does  not  want  to  touch.  It  still  has  only 
one  remedy  for  escaping  venereal  disease,  namely 
complete  abstinence,  a  remedy  which  has  been 
preached  to  ns  for  the  last  2000  years  without  any 
results. 

The  preaching  of  abstinence  up  to  the  date  of 
marriage,  no  matter  how  late  in  life  that  may  take 
place,  is  bound  to  increase  the  sum  total  of  our  sexual 
misery.  It  is  bound  to  make  us  a  nation  impotent, 
neurasthenic,  neurotic  and  perverted.  If  we  want 
to  escape  the  sexual  misery,  if  we  want  to  diminish 
its  amount,  we  must  remove  the  obstacles  from  the 
normal  satisfaction  of  the  sexual  instinct.  The 
shackles  which  have  been  put  upon  the  most  im- 
portant instinct  in  our  life  should  be  broken.  Sex 
relations  should  be  made  easier  and  not  harder. 
Every  young  man  should  be  fully  instructed  in  the 
use  of  the  most  efficient  venereal  prophylactics,  as 
well  as  in  the  use  of  the  most  harmless  and  the  most 
efficient  measures  for  the  prevention  of  conception. 
And  the  moderate,  normal  satisfaction  of  the  sexual 
instinct  should  be  considered  not  a  reprehensible, 
but  a  commendable  and  desirable  thing.  Only  then 
can  we  hope  to  avoid  a  great  deal  of  the  sexual 
misery  that  is  now  overwhelming  mankind,  only  then 
can  we  hope  to  develop  a  sane,  healthy,  normal,  vig- 
orous and  virile  race. 


THE  SEXUAL  MISERY  OF  WOMAN 
BY  DR.  MAX  HIRSCH 

THERE  have  been  in  the  last  few  years  numberless 
additions  to  the  literature  dealing  with  man's  sexual 
life.  Well  informed  specialists  and  alas,  misin- 
formed amateurs,  too,  have  had  their  say  on  the 
subject. 

Valuable  books  and  trashy  books  have  appeared, 
some  clearing  the  air,  some  muddling  up  things. 
Certain  people  deplored  quite  recently  the  fact  that 
the  market  was  so  badly  glutted  with  such  books; 
that  complaint  was  unjust.  This  oversupply  is  un- 
doubtedly called  forth  by  a  positive  demand  for 
that  sort  of  books.  The  human  soul  is  astir.  We 
behold  one  of  the  needs  of  the  present  day. 

The  man  living  in  blissful  smugness  who  has  never 
faced  misery  embodied  in  unmarried  mothers, 
illegitimate  children,  families  torn  asunder,  men  and 
women  who  pine  away  in  the  bonds  of  unhappy 
unions,  is  apt  to  shut  his  ears  to  the  call  of  the  dread- 
ful truth  when  the  call  comes  from  his  neighbor's 
house,  and  until  that  truth  finally  knocks  at  his  own 
door.  * '  Why  make  so  much  ado  about  it  ! "  he  will 
ask. 

The  dreadful  truth  must  break  into  the  peace  of 

33 


34  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

his  narrow  circle.  And  then  he  has  to  admit  that  it 
is  not  without  good  reasons  that  man's  sexual  life 
has  become  a  subject  for  research  and  meditation, 
and  that  it  is  not  a  waste  of  time  for  men  and  women 
gripped  by  the  misery  of  mankind  to  devote  to  a 
study  of  that  subject  their  heart  and  their  energy. 

To  the  confirmed  standpatter  I  will  now  reveal  a 
bit  of  that  truth ;  just  a  slice  of  life  as  it  offers  itself 
to  me,  a  physician,  in  my  daily  practice.  Physical 
symptoms  and  psychic  excitation ;  men  that  fight  one 
another  and  fights  that  rage  within  one  man. 
Tragedies  in  miniature;  and  when  the  tragic  knot 
is  tied  the  catastrophe  often  precipitates  itself  with 
terrible  fury.  Or  the  strings  are  so  snarled  up  that 
they  cannot  be  unraveled.  In  one  case  as  in  the  other 
I  will  endeavor  to  fathom  the  causes  and  thus  to 
throw  a  window  open  upon  the  panorama  of  life. 

An  almost  bare  room  and  a  woman  crushed  by 
grief  at  the  bedside  of  her  child  who  is  desperately 
sick.  The  doctor's  diagnosis,  inflammation  of  the 
brain,  has  shattered  all  her  hopes  of  possible  recov- 
ery. She  comes  from  a  good  family.  She  has  re- 
ceived an  average  education,  has  a  pleasant  appear- 
ance and  good  manners.  Her  parents  cast  her  out 
because,  trusting  foolishly  her  lover's  promises,  she 
had  given  herself  to  him.  Three  years  she  has  sup- 
ported herself  and  the  child  in  the  strange  city  by 
doing  work  to  which  she  had  never  been  accustomed. 
She  has  only  lived  and  struggled  for  the  child.  And 
after  a  short  sickness  it  is  dying.  Her  life  is  empty. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  35 

She  ignores  her  family's  offer  to  take  her  back  as  a 
cruel  insult. 

What  is  left  to  her?  Unless  some  golden  oppor- 
tunity presents  itself, — poverty  or  prostitution. 

A  girl  no  longer  in  her  first  youth,  of  serious  dis- 
position, and  anything  but  sensuous,  yields  to  the 
entreaties  of  her  fiance,  a  staid  man  of  forty.  She 
becomes  pregnant.  Her  father  is  an  official  in  the 
forest  administration,  her  mother  the  daughter  of 
an  army  officer;  her  brothers,  sisters  and  relatives 
occupy  high  positions. 

In  her  fourth  month  of  pregnancy  she  is  staying 
with  her  parents  and  a  sister  who  is  her  only  con- 
fidante, at  a,  watering  place  in  Bohemia.  It  will  soon 
be  impossible  to  conceal  her  condition.  The  sisters 
spend  days  and  nights  seeking  a  solution.  It  isn't 
so  much  the  shame  they  fear  as  the  blow  it  would 
deal  to  their  old  father  whom  they  worship.  The 
advertisement  of  a  Berlin  procuress  points  to  them 
a  way  out. 

Under  some  pretext  they  leave  the  watering  place. 
And  in  an  environment  which  contrasts  strikingly 
with  her  condition  I  find  the  poor  girl  is  bed  shaken 
by  chills.  The  sister  tells  me  the  facts  frankly.  A 
severe  and  painful  operation  obviates  the  immediate 
danger. 

Four  months  the  sick  woman  remained  in  bed;  to 
her  physical  sufferings  added  itself  serious  mental 
disturbances  due  to  remorse  and  to  the  fear  of  ex- 
posure ;  for  in  the  mean  time  the  procuress  had  been 


36  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

arrested.  .  .  .  The  parents  never  found  out.  Her 
plan  had  succeeded. 

Only  she  had  become  barren.  After  many  years 
of  married  life  with  the  man  whose  child  had  been 
killed  in  her  womb,  she  now  waits  in  vain,  heartsick, 
for  the  blessing  of  another  motherhood. 

One  day  I  receive  a  hurry  call.  A  shapely  girl  of 
21  lies  in  a  pool  of  blood,  breathing  her  last.  What 
the  French  call  a  "wise  woman"  has  opened  to  her 
the  door  to  the  great  Beyond.  The  scorn  of  her 
fellow  beings  which  she  was  so  eager  to  avoid  can 
no  longer  touch  her. 

She  could  not  foresee  that  the  bungler  who  helped 
her  out  of  trouble  would  kill  her  body  together  with 
the  fruit  thereof. 

Such  is  the  calvary  which  present  day  society 
compels  the  unmarried  mother  to  ascend.  We  need 
badly  to  sweep  out  a  good  many  habits  and  cus- 
toms whose  only  excuse  for  existing  is  that  they  were 
once  a  part  of  our  great  grandfathers'  patrimony. 
The  soil  on  which  our  own  concepts  of  morals  and 
ethics  are  growing,  must  be  plowed  anew,  lies  and 
hypocrisy,  the  weeds  that  overrun  it,  must  be  up- 
rooted and  the  ground  must  be  sown  with  the  seed 
of  modern  physiological  and  biological  knowledge. 

We  may  think  anything  we  please  of  unmarried 
women  who  indulge  in  sexual  intercourse.  A  prospec- 
tive mother,  however,  be  she  married  or  single,  is 
entitled  to  the  protection  of  society.  We  will  have 
to  devise  new  measures  to  vouchsafe  her  that  pro- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  37 

tection.  Legislators  will  have  to  devote  some  atten- 
tion to  the  position  of  the  illegitimate  child.  Un- 
married mothers  and  illegitimate  children  must 
demand,  and  will,  I  hope,  secure  effective  protection 
through  an  extension  by  statute  of  the  father's  re- 
sponsibility. 

Here  is  a  young  woman,  a  teacher,  25  years  old.  A 
fortnight  ago  I  performed  on  her  the  third  operation 
following  a  miscarriage. 

The  woman  has  a  strong  physique,  a  good  mind 
and  a  warm  heart.  A  senseless  statute  forbids  her, 
under  penalty  of  losing  the  position  to  which  she  has 
become  attached  and  her  means  of  livelihood,  to 
marry  the  man  who  has  won  her  love.  But  they  are 
not  willing  to  forego  the  joys  of  love.  Inexperienced 
in  the  use  of  preventives,  she  has  no  choice  except 
to  have  the  fruit  of  her  love  removed. 

One  of  her  fellow  teachers  whom  I  know,  an  older 
woman,  has  thought  and  acted  differently.  Thin, 
slightly  stooping,  with  a  strong,  spiritualized  but 
also  embittered  cast  of  features,  she  unites  in  her 
physical  appearances  all  the  characteristics  which 
are  popularly  attributed  to  the  old  maid.  She  may 
once  upon  a  time  have  been  comely.  And  love,  won- 
derful love  may  also  have  once  stirred  her.  Her 
soul  may  also  have  once  clamored  for  a  child.  But 
she  decided  to  be  an  ascete.  And  she  has  remained 
chaste  .  .  .  and  lonely. 

And  why?  Both  of  them  are  victims  of  the  law 
that  forbids  teachers  to  marry.  Not  only  does  that 


38  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

statute  rob  individuals  of  the  pleasures  of  life  but,  by 
preventing  the  cleverest  elements  of  society  from 
reproducing  themselves,  it  allows  great  economic 
resources  to  go  to  waste. 

A  beautiful  young  woman  marries  at  the  age  of 
18.  She  is  the  oldest  of  four  children.  She  has  been 
forced  into  that  marriage  because  her  parents  feel 
the  pinch  of  need.  He  is  apparently  a  desirable 
party.  He  has  money  and  a  profitable  business.  This 
means  one  child  less  to  take  care  of.  Four  months 
later  she  is  pregnant  and  suffering  from  syphilis. 
The  young  husband  assures  the  physician  that  she 
hasn't  been  infected  by  him.  His  noble  attitude  kills 
at  a  blow  the  harmony  that  reigned  between  him  and 
his  wife.  A  child  is  born  and  dies.  Year  after  year 
the  wife  has  to  bear  her  husband's  wedding  present. 
Lack  of  money  and  economic  dependence  prevent  her 
from  breaking  the  bonds  of  that  shameful  union. 
Years  later,  at  last,  she  throws  herself  in  the  arms 
of  a  man  she  loves  and  she  parts  with  great  relief 
from  the  man  to  whom  she  had  never  been  really 
wedded. 

The  only  way  to  prevent  such  catastrophes  is  to 
uplift  the  current  conception  of  marriage  and  of  its 
significance,  to  awaken  a  sense  of  responsibility  in 
all  those  who  are  concerned  with  the  union  of  two 
human  beings,  and  finally  to  grant  woman  her  physi- 
cal and  economic  independence. 

Marrying  for  money  must  in  the  future  be  con- 
sidered as  a  loathsome  practice.  Wherein  does  it 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  39 

differ  from  the  chattel  sale  of  yore  when  a  woman 
was  purchased  from  her  tribe  and  became  her  hus- 
band's property?  Nowadays,  however,  the  roles  are 
reversed.  Women  buy  a  husband  who  brings  them 
in  exchange  a  title  or  a  social  position.  And  the 
husband  exercises  less  brutally  his  proprietary 
rights. 

The  number  of  marriages  contracted  for  "  practi- 
cal" reasons  is  legion.  Now  and  then  the  interested 
parties  investigate  not  only  the  financial  standing  of 
their  intended,  but  his  or  her  condition  of  health  and 
that  of  his  or  her  family,  his  or  her  disposition,  mode 
of  life  and  expectations ;  but  this  is  not  a  frequent 
occurrence. 

And  not  a  few  of  those  matches  over  which  not 
Cupid  but  Mammon  presided,  fall  very  short  of  the 
ideal  which  Herman  Bang  in  his  story,  The  Priest, 
has  depicted  in  such  alluring  colors. 

A  skeleton  of  a  woman,  who  looks  fifty  but  is  only 
thirty,  comes  to  consult  me.  She  has  been  for  18 
years  the  wife  of  a  hard  working  man  who  is  very 
superior  to  her  as  far  as  physique  goes.  She  has 
borne  seven  children,  six  of  whom  are  living,  and 
she  has  had  four  miscarriages. 

Every  new  child  has  found  the  mother  weaker  and 
the  family  poorer.  Dissatisfaction  has  crept  into 
the  family  and  now  discord.  .  .  . 

What  has  broken  up  this  family?  The  lack  of  an 
intelligent  system  of  birth  regulation  proportioning 


40  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

the  number  of  children  to  the  wife's  health  and  to 
the  family's  means. 

Even  when  a  family  is  comfortably  situated  mar- 
ried happiness  is  jeopardized  as  soon  as  too  frequent 
motherhood  endangers  the  mother's  health.  The 
wife  becomes  prematurely  old  and  dull.  The  more 
she  tries  to  avoid  her  husband's  embraces,  either  be- 
cause she  finds  no  pleasure  in  them  or  because  she 
fears  pregnancy,  the  quicker  she  will  drive  him  out 
of  the  house  and  into  the  arms  of  prostitutes. 

Many  are  the  families  in  which  the  number  of  chil- 
dren must  be  kept  down  either  because  confinements 
were  laborious  or  because  the  mother  is  a  wage 
earner.  Ignorance  of  preventives,  in  this  case,  is 
responsible  for  the  breaking  up  of  the  home.  This 
ignorance  however  is  not  the  only  factor.  Indolence, 
selfishness  and  sensuality  often  lead  the  man  to 
neglect  means  which  kind  advisers  have  pointed  out 
to  him.  I  have  known  more  than  one  woman  to  em- 
ploy, without  letting  her  husband  discover  it,  pre- 
ventives which  unfortunately  failed  many  times  to 
serve  her  purpose. 

I  really  believe  that  the  great  majority  of  mis- 
carriages that  come  under  our  notice  are  the  result 
of  criminal  operations ;  but  the  number  of  those  tak- 
ing place  secretly  between  the  four  walls  of  private 
homes  is  even  larger.  The  police  and  the  penal  code 
find  themselves  in  a  ridiculous  position,  sneered  at 
by  everybody.  What  if  now  and  then  some  one  gets 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  41 

caught  and  is  made  to  pay?  Those  who  get  caught 
are  generally  poor  sinners  without  experience. 

At  twenty-six,  a  good  wife  and  mother  finds  her- 
self pregnant  for  the  fifth  time.  She  already  has 
four  children,  all  young  and  helpless.  Her  husband's 
wage  is  so  small  that  she  must  take  in  home  work  to 
help  buy  food  and  clothing.  What  has  to-morrow 
to  hold  out  to  the  new  life  she  bears  in  her  and  to  the 
other  four  children?  She  makes  up  her  mind  and 
has  the  necessary  done.  Everything  passes  off  well 
but  a  malicious  neighbor  gives  information  to  the 
police.  A  14-month  jail  sentence  separates  the 
mother  from  the  children,  the  wife  from  the  hus- 
band. The  children  are  neglected,  the  husband  fre- 
quents prostitutes. 

How  many  more  cases  like  this  are  there?  They 
prove  clearly  that  the  paragraph  of  the  penal  code 
relative  to  crimes  against  the  unborn  should  not 
stand  in  the  statute  books  in  its  present  wording.  If 
it  is  to  serve  a  purpose  it  must  be  directed  against 
professional  abortionists  only ;  and  on  such  it  should 
impose  even  more  severe  penalties. 

I  knew  a  childless  couple  who  ten  years  ago  were 
married  with  considerable  display  and  seemed  at 
the  time  perfectly  happy.  The  husband,  a  man  of 
unusually  polygamous  proclivities  and  incapable  of 
controlling  his  instincts',  indulged  in  extramatri- 
monial  gratification.  His  wife  found  it  out  and  for- 
gave him.  He  infected  her ;  she  lost  her  health  but 
forgave  him.  Finally  he  took  a  mistress  with  whom 


42  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

he  spends  much  more  time  and  money  than  with  his 
wife.  And  this  is  the  life  they  will  live  till  death 
parts  them.  Of  course  the  wife  has  a  slave  soul. 
She  might,  however,  be  less  accommodating  if  she 
could  be  financially  independent. 

The  community  of  goods  which  has  not  been  en- 
tirely stricken  out  of  the  new  civil  code  and  gives 
to  the  husband  the  management  and  usufruct  of  his 
wife's  property  places  the  wife  in  a  condition  of 
physical  servitude  and  economic  dependence.  We 
must  obviate  this  evil  by  giving  women  a  radically 
different  sort  of  an  education,  granting  them  free 
access  to  public  careers  and  giving  them  all  possible 
opportunities  to  develop  their  personality  according 
to  their  inclinations  and  their  capacities.  The  law 
must  insure  woman's  economic  independence  by  giv- 
ing her  absolute  control  of  her  property. 

Many  a  woman,  economically  independent  or  en- 
dowed with  a  strong  will  power,  would  gladly  part 
from  a  husband  whose  heart  belongs  to  another 
woman.  And  the  husband,  too,  would  welcome  de- 
liverance from  the  bonds  of  an  unbearable  married 
life.  But  the  law  will  not  permit  it.  It  contains  two 
stipulations  which  are  pernicious  and  inhuman :  the 
guilty  parties  must  be  branded  as  such  and  then  the 
faithless  husband  is  forbidden  to  marry  the  woman 
he  loves.  These  stipulations  must  be  abrogated  and 
the  separation  of  incompatible  mates  thus  made  less 
difficult. 

Indifference  to  the  question  of  health  when  the 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  43 

marriage  arrangements  are  made  is  conducive  to 
immeasurable  harm.  So  many  young  women  in 
flourishing  health  and  full  of  sweet  expectations  have 
been  infected  with  gonorrhea  in  the  bridal  bed  by  the 
husband  they  adored.  This  means  long  suffering 
if  not  some  grave  trouble.  And  the  saddest  part  of 
it  is  that  their  hopes  of  motherhood  are  blighted 
forever. 

From  this  point  of  view  gonorrhea  is  even  more 
terrible  than  syphilis.  The  evils  that  follow  in  the 
wake  of  the  latter  are  just  as  numerous:  years  of 
illness,  miscarriages  and  stillbirths.  But  to  the 
mother  remains  at  least  the  hope  of  bringing  children 
into  the  world.  Weak  and  sick  as  those  children  may 
be  in  many  cases,  they  can  still,  if  given  the  proper 
care,  grow  into  healthy  and  useful  men. 

Tuberculosis  transmitted  by  the  husband  can  also 
work  great  havoc,  whether  he  is  himself  tuberculous 
or  comes  from  a  family  tainted  with  it.  I  know  sev- 
eral families  in  which  as  many  as  five  or  six  children 
died  before  reaching  their  seventh  year.  They  all 
succumbed  to  tuberculosis  of  the  bones,  of  the  lungs, 
of  the  intestine  or  of  the  meninges. 

Only  recently  I  have  seen  a  mother  lose  her  two 
daughters  who  were  between  20  and  30  and  apparent- 
ly healthy,  carried  away  by  consumption. 

Why  this  misery?  The  social  position  of  the 
fiances,  their  financial  condition,  their  income  are  the 
subject  of  careful  investigation.  But  nobody  would 
think  of  investigating  properly  the  physical  health 


44  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

of  the  two  contractants  and  of  the  families  from 
which  they  come. 

Here  is  where  a  national  department  of  hygiene 
must  intervene  and  demand,  besides  the  usual  docu- 
ments that  must  be  produced  before  marriage  can 
be  contracted,  a  certificate  of  health.  Thus  we  will 
prevent  worthless  human  types  from  marrying  and 
procreating  children,  a  problem  which  is  not  im- 
possible to  solve. 

The  alcoholic  and  insane  should  also  be  kept  from 
procreating  children;  their  offspring  fills  asylums 
and  jails. 

It  isn't  only  for  the  children  but  for  the  wife  that 
the  man's  alcoholic  habits  is  an  inexhaustible  source 
of  misery.  Alcohol  claims  a  part  of  the  daily  wage. 
A  man's  capacity  for  work,  his  desire  for  work  and 
his  endurance  are  decreased  by  indulgence  in  alco- 
hol. Besides  drink  arouses  sexual  instincts.  In  his 
insatiable  lust  the  drunkard  brutalizes  his  weakened 
wife ;  he  ruins  her  health  and  procreates  children  who 
inherit  his  vice  or  suffer  from  epilepsy  or  insanity 
or  become  criminals.  The  wife  is  helpless.  The 
law  affords  her  no  protection.  Hygiene  must  offer 
assistance  by  directing  a  ruthless  war  against  alco- 
holism; and  so  must  the  legislators,  by  broadening 
the  statutes  which  thus  far  only  apply  to  drunkards 
rendered  by  their  condition  dangerous  for  the  public. 

Many  unions  which  began  very  happily  and  which 
seemed  to  fulfill  all  the  conditions  which  insure  dur- 
able bliss,  have  been  blighted  by  certain  peculiarities 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  45 

of  the  act  of  sexual  intercourse,  which  in  an  ideal 
marriage  should  be  the  holiest  of  relations.  In- 
difference to  the  sexual  act  which  is  more  frequent  in 
women  than  is  commonly  supposed,  and  which  some- 
times becomes  an  absolute  repugnance,  is  traceable 
not  always  to  a  lack  of  affection  for  the  man  but 
rather  to  the  very  nature  of  feminine  love  which  is 
dominated  by  the  idea  of  procreation  and  in  which 
the  sexual  act  does  not  play  as  important  a  part  as 
it  does  in  man's  love.  That  indifference  is  usually 
the  first  cause  of  estrangement,  for  the  man  is  in- 
clined to  attribute  it  to  his  wife's  lack  of  love  for 
him.  When  such  a  union  remains  barren,  husband 
and  wife  gradually  drift  apart  from  each  other.  The 
man  either  frequents  prostitutes  or  takes  a  mistress. 
Some  women,  intelligent  enough  to  foresee  the  pos- 
sible results  of  their  indifference,  do  not  let  the  man 
suspect  their  incapacity  to  enjoy  the  sexual  act.  I 
know  a  woman  who  has  been  simulating  that  way  for 
the  past  12  years;  but  her  married  life  is  a  happy 
one. 

Unequal  desire  for  sexual  gratification  on  the  part 
of  the  man  and  his  wife  is  a  continual  cause  of  irrita- 
tion. I  will  not  say  anything  about  abnormal  cases  or 
perversions.  Small  differences  of  degree  are  enough 
to  cause  unpleasantness.  Sometimes  the  man  is  un- 
able to  control  his  desire  or  too  thoughtless  to  do 
so.  Many  women  have  lost  their  health  and  their 
happiness  because  their  husbands  would  not  spare 


46  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

them  at  times  when  they  should  have  been  spared, 
during  menstruation,  confinement  or  in  sickness. 

I  remember  a  young  woman  who  after  being  de- 
livered of  her  first  child  developed  puerperal  fever. 
The  source  of  the  infection  was  a  mystery.  The 
woman  hadn't  been  examined  for  a  long  while  before 
parturition  took  place.  It  came  out  that  her  hus- 
band, grudging  the  continence  which  the  confinement 
would  impose  upon  him,  had  satisfied  his  desire  a 
few  hours  before  she  had  been  delivered  and  when 
the  labor  had  already  begun. 

Difficulties  encountered  in  the  performance  of  the 
sexual  act  and  due  either  to  the  man's  impotence  or 
to  obstacles  presented  by  the  woman's  organs  exert 
a  very  disturbing  influence  upon  conjugal  peace.  For 
three  years  a  young  couple  had  vainly  tried  to  have 
sexual  intercourse.  Finally  the  man  assumed  that 
he  was  too  weak  and  resigned  himself  to  his  fate. 
But  their  life  was  not  as  happy  as  it  was  before. 
Finally  the  wife  gathered  all  her  courage  and  con- 
sulted a  physician.  The  examination  revealed  a 
coarse,  resistant  hymen  which  an  insignificant  op- 
eration removed.  After  that  the  sexual  act  was 
performed  successfully.  Love  and  happiness  re- 
turned. 

In  all  these  cases  in  which  the  wife  is  the  victim, 
success  can  only  be  attained  by  training  people  to 
live  lives  more  conforming  to  the  dictates  of  hygiene 
and  by  insuring  obedience  to  medical  advice. 

I  will  leave  to  specialists  the  task  of  describing 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  47 

the  misery  of  prostitution.  The  fight  against  prosti- 
tution however  cannot  be  waged  directly  with  any 
measure  of  success.  There  is  no  doubt  that  prostitu- 
tion will  either  disappear  or  decrease  considerably 
as  soon  as  the  various  problems  we  are  considering 
have  been  solved  in  a  satisfactory  fashion. 

Some  uninformed  readers  may  think  that  I  have 
presented  in  this  article  cases  of  a  very  exceptional 
character.  Exceptional  facts  are  generally  revealed 
to  the  public  by  the  daily  press.  The  cases  I  have 
mentioned  are  of  daily  occurrence,  the  human  types 
I  have  introduced  are  ones  which  the  seeker  after 
absolute  truth  encounters  at  every  step.  Those 
people  are  not  all  absolutely  alike.  Countless 
nuances  due  to  differences  in  disposition  or  to  cir- 
cumstances give  every  one  of  them  an  individual 
stamp.  And  just  because  that  misery  is  rampant  in 
the  palaces  of  the  rich,  in  the  barracklike  tenements 
of  our  large  cities  and  in  the  modest  dwelling  of  the 
tiller  of  the  soil,  it  behooves  us  to  expose  it  to  the 
full  light  of  day. 

With  eyes  full  of  hunger  and  sorrow,  that  misery 
will  stare  at  the  happy  ones  when  they  pass  by  and 
teach  them  that  beyond  the  walls  of  their  happy 
homes  there  is  a  world  the  existence  of  which  they 
had  never  suspected. 

It  will  take  the  whole  arsenal  of  biology,  all  the 
resources  of  political  and  social  economy  and,  last 
but  not  least,  the  help  of  psychology,  the  best  edu- 


48  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

cator  of  mankind,  to  relieve  woman's  sexual  misery. 
But  we  must  prepare  the  ground.  Mankind  must 
feel  an  irresistible  desire  to  learn  the  lessons  those 
various  sciences  can  teach. 


THE  FRIGID  WOMAN 

[Deficiency  in  Woman's  Sexual  Sensibility] 

BY  OTTO  ABLER,  M.D.,  BERLIN. 

BEFORE  speaking  of  the  frigid  woman  (cold,  in- 
different woman,  femme  de  glace,  femme  de  marbre, 
natura  frigida,  etc.)  I  would  like  to  forewarn  the 
reader  against  a  misinterpretation  of  my  meaning.  I 
once  wrote  a  monograph  on  the  subject,  entitled 
" Deficiencies  in  Woman's  Sexual  Sensibility" 
(anesthesia  sexualis  feminarum,  anaphrodisia,  dys- 
pareunia) .  On  the  strength  of  that  title  alone  I  have 
been  asked  many  a  time :  "Do  you  mean  to  say  that 
women  are  deficient  in  sexual  sensibility?" 

I  will  answer  this  at  once. 

I  say  that  a  normal  healthy  woman  possesses  a 
normal  healthy  sexual  instinct  whose  activity,  how- 
ever, is  repressed  by  cultural  ideas  thousands  of 
years  old.  The  "passivity"  of  woman  which  is  often 
corrected  by  the  "activity"  of  the  man  is  a  con- 
sequence of  the  "repression"  which  is  exerted  more 
strongly  on  woman's  than  on  man's  sexual  life. 

It  was  after  mature  consideration  that  I  placed  the 
key  word  *  *  deficiency ' '  right  at  the  beginning  of  my 
title.  It  may  be  that  the  expression  "faulty  sexual 
sensibility"  would  have  been  better  and  more  com- 

49 


50  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

prehensive.  Only  I  did  not  wish  to  include  in  my 
work  a  study  of  extreme  perversions,  that  is  of 
homosexuality.  Deficiency  in  sexual  sensibility  must 
be  studied  in  its  variations  in  so  far  as  it  affects 
the  normal  sexual  relations  between  man  and  woman. 
The  number  of  those  variations  is  great,  terribly 
great.  We  should  not  confuse  matters  by  crowding 
this  picture  of  abnormality  with  a  list  of  homosexual 
perversions.  Well  qualified  writers  have  made  ade- 
quate studies  of  this  phase  of  the  question. 

My  observations  show  that  frigidity,  that  is  a 
deficiency  in  woman's  sexual  sensibility  exists  in  be- 
tween 25  per  cent  to  50  per  cent  of  women.  Other 
practitioners  have  confirmed  this  estimate. 

For  obvious  reasons  it  is  not  easy  to  collect  sta- 
tistics ;  in  order  to  deal  with  round  numbers  and  to 
take  an  average  figure  let  us  say  that  33  per  cent 
or  one  third  of  all  women  are  frigid. 

Just  think  of  one  third  of  all  women  being  frigid, 
cold,  indifferent!  Who  would  not  shake  his  head 
and  call  this  the  deceptive  fancy  of  a  blind 
theoretician! 

I  have  spoken  with  a  bachelor,  a  man  about  town, 
who  knows  women.  "Impossible,"  he  answered,  "I 
never  had  such  unpleasant  experiences."  If  he  had 
tried  he  might  perhaps  have  recalled  one  isolated 
case. 

I  have  spoken  to  married  men.  They  had  more 
cases  of  frigidity  to  report.  Several  of  them  re- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  51 

vealed  to  me  that  their  wives  had  little  inclination 
for  sexual  intercourse. 

This  simple  detail  indicates  under  what  condi- 
tions statistical  inquiries  of  the  most  intimate  nature 
must  be  undertaken. 

Why  is  it  that  the  man  about  town  knows  of  no 
frigid  woman?  Because  that  type  of  woman  does 
not  come  his  way.  His  hunting  ground  is  the  world 
of  passionate  women.  These  only  offer  themselves 
to  him,  it  is  these  he  can  conquer  and  with  whom  his 
virility  triumphs.  The  frigid  ones  turn  away  from 
him,  he  soon  feels  himself  on  unpromising  ground 
where  it  would  not  be  worth  while  for  him  to  waste 
his  efforts. 

In  certain  cases  the  man  about  town  allows  him- 
self to  be  fooled.  Purchasable  sensuality  seldom 
feels  the  burning  passion  it  displays. 

But  even  the  man  about  town  could  mention  one 
frigid  woman  among  his  acquaintances,  if  we  only 
would  refresh  his  memory  and  help  him  a  little. 

In  the  tragedy  of  adultery,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  most  frequent  psychological  factor  is  the  hus- 
band's frigidity  which  contrasts  with  the  lover's 
ardor  and  passion. 

In  order  to  throw  light  upon  the  complicated 
mechanism  and  psychology  of  the  highest  sexual 
feeling  it  is  necessary  to  draw  a  distinction  between 
instinct,  pleasure,  desire,  (libido)  on  one  hand  and 
the  culmination  of  the  urge,  gratification,  voluptuous 
feeling,  orgasm,  on  the  other  hand. 


52  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

Let  us  take  the  latter  first.  There  is  a  form  of 
frigidity  affecting  the  final  gratification  and  which 
in  spite  of  all  the  possible  desire,  in  spite  of  the 
keenest  libido  precludes  any  ejaculation,  any  orgasm. 

This  is  the  most  common  form  of  frigidity.  Some 
women  may,  so  to  speak,  be  very  warm  and  yet 
never  reach  the  boiling  point.  This  is  one  of  the 
varieties  of  deficient  sexual  sensibility.  Frigidity, 
however,  has  become  a  household  word  and  must  be 
used  in  this  case,  not  without  good  reasons.  Where 
is  the  woman  who  would  not  become  actually 
"frigid"  if  after  fulfilling  her  conjugal  duty  for 
many  years  of  married  life,  she  had  always  been 
cheated  of  the  orgasm,  the  final  gratification?  In- 
stead of  the  passionate  ecstasy  she  expected  from 
the  sexual  act  she  must  resign  herself  to  a  cloying 
mechanical  process.  Defilement  and  impregnation, 
this  is  all  she  derives  from  it. 

A  woman's  libido  must  be  very  strong  not  to  be 
gradually  weakened  and  finally  deadened  under  such 
circumstances.  Her  libido  transforms  itself  into 
frigidity.  Will  that  condition  endure  all  her  life 
long?  As  long  as  she  has  intercourse  with  the  same 
man,  yes.  But  what  would  happen  if  she  should 
meet  another  man?  Who  would  dare  to  answer  this 
question  in  the  negative? 

What  are  the  reasons  for  that  lack  of  climax  or 
orgasm  which  finally  leads  to  chronic  frigidity? 
Some  are  purely  mechanical,  some,  the  majority  of 
them,  are  of  a  psychological  nature.  The  psychologi- 


SEXUAL  TEUTHS  53 

cal  factors  are  many  and  varied.  To  trace  them 
all  is  the  most  arduous  task  for  a  thoughtful  prac- 
titioner. 

There  are  of  course  purely  mechanical  causes  such 
as  a  maladjustment  of  the  male  and  female  organs. 
But  in  such  cases  a  medical  intervention  can  correct 
matters  as  far  as  the  woman  is  concerned. 

Not  infrequently,  however,  the  fault  for  this  lack 
of  adjustment  lies  with  the  husband. 

As  long  as  his  inexperience  only  is  to  blame,  the 
physician  can  proffer  advice  which  generally  bears 
fruit. 

One  form  of  maladjustment  which  is  harder  to 
correct  is  a  faulty  timing  of  the  climax.  The  most 
widely  known  form  of  faulty  timing  is  premature 
ejaculation  of  the  man,  a  condition  whereby  the 
man's  climax  (ejaculation  or  orgasm)  occurs  too 
soon,  before  the  woman  has  had  time  to  experience 
any  pleasurable  feeling.  The  tension  of  her  libido 
then  is  not  relieved. 

In  this  case  the  man  may  adapt  himself  to  the 
circumstances  and  an  artist  in  matters  of  love  can 
easily  cope  with  the  situation. 

When  the  man  is  incapable  of  such  self  control, 
and  when  his  climax  is  reached  with  morbid  haste, 
medical  treatment  is  imperative.  Here  is  an  im- 
portant class  of  cases  in  which  the  husband  must 
be  treated  for  deficient  sexual  sensibility  ...  of 
the  wife. 

Another  cause  of  deficient  sexual  sensibility  in  the 


54  SEXUAL  TEUTHS 

woman  is,  curious  as  it  may  sound,  previous  over- 
indulgence in  self  gratification  (onanism,  mastur- 
bation). One  would  think  that  such  previous  habits 
would  prepare  and  facilitate  the  performance  of 
bisexual  coitus.  On  the  contrary.  The  irony  of 
nature  causes  in  woman  a  true  anesthesia  sexualis 
masturbatoria. 

I  have  known  cases  in  which  the  libido  was  so 
violent  that  masturbation  had  been  practiced  from 
a  very  early  age,  and  in  which  the  imagination  of 
the  pseudo-virgins  was  constantly  obsessed  by  the 
desire  of  possession.  And  yet  when  those  women 
were  able  to  indulge  in  normal  intercourse  they 
never  could  obtain  an  orgasm,  which  manual  caresses 
gave  them  in  overwhelming  measure. 

This  paradoxical  situation  can  be  explained  by 
the  fact  that  those  women  had  adopted  when  mas- 
turbating a  certain  speed  and  rhythm,  and  exerted 
a  certain  pressure  on  a  certain  part  of  their  genitals. 
The  seat  of  voluptuous  sensations  in  woman  is  not 
localized  in  one  single  spot.  The  clitoris  is  un- 
doubtedly to  be  considered  as  the  main  organ  but 
the  labia  minora  are  used  much  more  generally  for 
such  purposes.  The  labia  majora,  the  vaginal  wall, 
the  urethra  and  the  cervix  uteri  are  also  the  seat  of 
sensations.  The  nipples  too  are  among  the  so  called 
"erogenous  zones." 

It  is  easy  to  understand  that  when  a  woman  has 
acquired  certain  habits  her  locus  praedilectionis  may 
not  be  reached  or  at  least  stimulated  to  a  sufficient 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  55 

degree  during  normal  bisexual  coitus.  If,  besides, 
the  man  is  too  inexperienced  or  too  weak  to  perform 
the  act  with  the  same  strength  and  speed  to  which 
the  woman  had  accustomed  herself  while  mastur- 
bating, this  form  of  frigidity  resolves  itself  into  its 
component  elements. 

Frigidity  due  to  previous  masturbation  is  ex- 
tremely frequent.  The  majority  of  women  affected 
by  it  seek  relief  by  masturbating  after  coitus.  Others 
give  up  the  practice  altogether  and  after  a  few 
years  the  last  sparks  of  libido  smoldering  under 
the  ashes  are  altogether  extinguished;  the  sexual 
act  becomes  for  those  women  a  cold,  dead,  mechani- 
cal thing. 

Frigidity  due  to  masturbation  may  also  have 
psychological  causes.  We  may  point  out  that  in  the 
act  of  self  gratification  the  woman's  imagination 
may  have  lingered  on  images  which  do  not  cor- 
respond to  the  reality.  The  woman  may  have  thought 
while  masturbating  of  a  tall,  blond  man,  whereas  it 
is  now  a  short,  dark  man  who  is  trying  to  produce 
in  her  the  illusory  bliss  she  used  to  enjoy,  and  thus 
her  acquired  associations  of  ideas  are  entirely  upset. 

This  leads  us  to  ask  ourselves  why  men  do  not 
suffer  from  the  same  kind  of  frigidity  since  they 
masturbate  at  least  as  much  as  women? 

Here  we  find  a  striking  illustration  of  what  activity 
and  passivity  mean  as  far  as  the  sexual  enjoyment 
of  man  and  woman  is  concerned.  Whatever  form 
of  masturbation  the  man  may  have  resorted  to,  he 


56  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

is  always  able,  owing  to  the  active  part  he  plays, 
to  reproduce  in  the  sexual  act  the  rhythm,  speed,  and 
strength  he  used  in  masturbating.  The  man  con- 
ducts the  sexual  act  and  proceeds  undisturbed  on 
the  road  to  gratification  which  he  has  learnt  to 
follow;  if  he  is  unable  to  adapt  his  ways  in  order 
to  satisfy  the  woman  he  finally  lapses  into  a  per- 
haps unconscious  thoughtlessness  which  causes  him 
to  seek  only  one  goal,  his  own  orgasm.  "My  hus- 
band only  thinks  of  himself"  is  the  ashamed  and 
resigned  plaint  of  so  many  "frigid"  women. 

A  form  of  frigidity  similar  to  that  induced  in 
woman  by  masturbation  may  also  be  observed  in 
man.  It  occurs  in  rather  infrequent  cases  when  the 
woman  abandoning  her  passive  role  assumes  the 
active  role  in  love. 

We  come  now  to  the  psychic  causes  of  a  lack  of 
orgasm.  The  most  important  of  all  is  the  fear  of 
pregnancy.  Consciously  or  unconsciously  that  fear 
dominates  all  the  sexual  thoughts  of  woman.  Most 
women  harbor  the  idea  that  their  own  orgasm  when 
it  coincides  with  the  man's  ejaculation  must  result 
in  pregnancy.  This  theory  has  been  scientifically 
exploded;  we  have  cases  on  record  when  pregnancy 
was  provoked  during  ether  anesthesia,  or  from 
sperm  being  introduced  by  mechanical  means. 
Pregnancy  following  rape  or  occurring  during  the 
first  days  after  marriage  when  the  woman  experi- 
enced no  gratification  and  only  felt  pain  and  dis- 
comfort proves  that  such  a  theory  is  untenable. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  57 

And  yet  there  is  a  particle  of  truth  in  it.  For 
practitioners  have  observed  that  impregnation  is 
made  easier  when  the  woman  has  an  orgasm.  The* 
proportion  of  pregnancies  preceded  by  "feelings" 
however,  is  only  a  trifle  higher  than  that  of  preg- 
nancies preceded  by  no  "feelings." 

When  a  married  woman  having  had  two  or  three 
children  and  who  believes  in  the  "feelings"  theory 
wishes  to  put  an  end  to  her  functions  of  reproduc- 
tion, she  resorts  naturally  to  what  she  considers  as 
the  first  means  at  hand,  that  is  self-restraint.  Habits 
can  be  formed  in  this  way  and  new  associations  of 
ideas  may  provoke  such  a  distortion  of  feelings  that 
no  orgasm  takes  place  in  normal  intercourse.  A 
psychic  inhibition  establishes  itself  and  the  orgasm 
is  absolutely  suppressed;  or  under  the  pressure  of 
the  libido  a  new  complex  of  ideas  forms  itself  and 
leads  with  possibly  the  cooperation  of  the  man  to 
new  forms  of  gratification  that  are  not  fraught  with 
danger,  coitus  without  immissio,  cunnilingus,  etc. 

Inhibition  may  have  many  other  psychic  factors. 
This  is  easily  understood  when  we  keep  in  mind  the 
weaker  and  more  passive  sexual  sensibility  of 
woman. 

The  sense  of  smell  which,  in  woman,  is  apparently 
more  developed,  plays  here  an  important  part.  The 
senses  of  sight  and  touch,  in  a  word,  all  the  sensory 
organs,  play  a  part  and  the  slightest  trace  of  aver- 
sion on  the  part  of  the  woman  may  produce  a  very 
strong  inhibition.  Eepulsion  for  any  physical  or 


58  SEXUAL  TEUTHS 

mental  characteristic  of  her  husband  precludes  not 
only  the  orgasm  but  every  attempt  at  bringing  it 
about  and  any  beginning  of  libido. 

Vaginism  deserves  special  mention.  This  is  a 
form  of  disease  which,  before  medical  science  had 
begun  to  undertake  intimate  sexual  observations, 
was  the  first  manifestation  of  feminine  pathology 
known  to  physicians  on  account  of  its  obvious  out- 
ward symptoms.  It  is  a  spasmodic  condition  of  the 
genital  parts,  of  the  crural  region  and  of  the  entire 
body  during  normal  intercourse.  A  natural  connec- 
tion (immissio)  is  then  impossible  or  can  only  take 
place  with  the  use  of  a  certain  violence.  All  the 
pleasure  of  the  act  is  replaced  by  struggles,  moans, 
discomfort  and  pain.  The  climax  or  orgasm  is 
naturally  impossible. 

Some  of  those  cases  are  of  a  purely  mechanical 
nature.  They  can  be  remedied  by  applying  a  dilator 
or  the  knife;  these  purely  mechanical  forms  were 
the  only  ones  the  old  school  designated  by  the  name 
of  vaginism. 

The  more  advanced  psychology  of  sexual  research 
recognizes  that  only  a  small  part  of  such  disorders 
are  due  to  mechanical  causes  and  that  it  is  rather 
psychic  factors  connected  with  all  the  sexual  feelings 
and  the  sexual  mentality  of  woman,  and  also  with 
cultural  and  social  concepts,  which  are  at  the  basis 
of  the  trouble. 

It  is  a  tragedy  for  a  woman  suffering  from  psychic 
vaginism  to  consult  a  physician  who  doesn't  under- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  59 

stand  the  psychic  origin  of  the  disease  and  places 
all  his  faith  in  the  knife.  New  terrors  are  struck 
not  only  into  the  body  but  into  the  soul  of  the  poor 
obsessed  and  hunted  woman.  Her  mental  balance 
may  be  destroyed  permanently  and  the  treatment 
may  make  of  her  a  chronic  invalid,  an  eternally  dis- 
contented being  who  will  remain  frigid  the  rest  of 
her  life,  a  prey  to  the  tortures  of  neurosis  and  hys- 
teria and  to  whom  the  conjugal  bed  will  offer  no 
attraction,  joy  or  gratification. 

Psychic  vaginism  is  so  intimately  connected  with 
the  woman's  sexual  mentality  that  we  must  now  come 
to  our  second  point:  woman's  peculiar  sexual  urge, 
woman's  libido. 

It  has  been  denied  many  times  that  sexual  desires, 
instinct,  urge,  libido  and  all  the  preliminary  states 
of  excitation  which  culminate  in  the  final  orgasm 
were  innate  in  woman  and  appeared  automatically. 
Feminine  libido,  many  said,  was  rather  an  artificial 
phenomenon  which  must  be  first  awakened  by  the 
man  together  with  all  the  manifestations  that  fol- 
low it. 

The  modern  sexual  movement,  on  the  contrary, 
has  loudly  claimed,  on  the  testimony  of  women 
themselves,  that  a  desire  for  sexual  gratification  is 
a  natural  phenomenon  with  women  and  that  conse- 
quently women  are  entitled  to  that  gratification. 

Where  is  the  truth?  Probably  as  usual  in  a  happy 
medium.  Women  do  not  care  to  let  physicians  de- 


60  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

cide  the  question,  not  because  they  are  physicians 
but  because  physicians  are  generally  men. 

Granting  the  truth  of  what  precedes,  there  are 
many  questions  based  upon  the  observation  of 
actual  facts  which  demand  insistently  to  be  an- 
swered. If  the  woman's  libido  was  totally  inexistent, 
how  would  this  uneven  distribution  harmonize  with 
all  the  other  sensory  feelings  which  nature  has  given 
to  man  and  woman  approximately  in  the  same 
measure  ? 

Could  one  sex  be  endowed  with  the  stormiest 
sensuality  and  the  other  sex  have  as  its  share  a  cold 
indifferent  frigidity?  This  is  in  direct  contradiction 
of  the  spirit  and  the  facts  of  natural  history. 

We  have,  however,  the  veiled,  pent  up  and  im- 
mured libido,  a  libido  in  chains,  which  like  a  child 
that  was  always  repressed,  does  not  know  that  there 
is  such  a  thing  as  individuality  and  freedom. 

The  question,  a  question  of  a  psychological  nature, 
is :  Can  one  remove  that  veil  and  break  those  chains  ? 
The  solution  of  that  question  will  require  a  little 
thoughtfulness  on  the  part  of  the  man,  provided, 
however,  he  is  able  to  place  himself  in  the  woman's 
position. 

What  would  become  of  the  male's  libido  if  every 
time  a  man  indulged  in  intercourse  he  ran  the  risk 
of  jeopardizing  his  social  standing,  his  position,  his 
livelihood,  his  health ;  if  a  high  official  had  to  resign 
his  position,  abandon  his  home  and  his  family,  be 
scorned  or  at  least  ostracized  and  perhaps  cast  out 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  61 

on  the  street  with  the  child  that  called  him  father? 

The  answer  is  not  far  to  find.  Do  not  many  young 
husbands  lack  strength  in  their  first  married  night 
because  they  have  to  face  something  new,  to  which 
in  their  purity  they  were  not  accustomed? 

What  is  this  well-known  psychic  impotence  but  a 
form  of  momentarily  pent  up  and  inhibited  libido? 
And  who  is  the  man  about  town  who  has  not  felt 
impotent  at  the  psychological  moment  because  he 
was  frightened  by  some  symptom  that  forced  into 
his  mind  the  devilish  specter  of  venereal  infection? 

Woman's  inhibition  is  a  thousand  times  greater, 
it  is  infinite.  Sometimes  it  may  be  due  to  natural 
reasons,  such  as  pain,  or  pregnancy,  and  sometimes 
to  the  dictates  of  civilization,  to  a  feeling  of  shame, 
but  what  of  it?  It  is  a  real  fact,  it  has  existed  in 
every  land  and  every  part  of  the  world  with  insig- 
nificant variations. 

Nor  should  we  assume  that  so-called  primitive 
peoples  are  better  situated  in  that  respect.  Even 
among  them  there  is  a  certain  code  of  behavior  which 
inhibits  the  feminine  libido,  a  code  established  by 
the  stronger  sex,  and  even  among  them  there  are, 
if  we  credit  the  reports,  frigid  individuals,  whose 
libido  is  repressed,  and  who  "have  little  proclivity 
towards  physical  love." 

Johanna  Elberskirchen  considers  every  case  of 
deficient  libido  among  women  as  a  sign  of  cultural 
degeneracy  and  as  the  result  of  an  inferior  evolution 
and  deficient  life  conditions. 


62  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

If  only  that  degeneracy  was  not  distributed  so 
evenly  all  over  the  universe.  No.  Certain  inhibitions 
are  a  natural  component  of  feminine  love,  ennoble 
the  woman's  beauty,  increase  and  deepen  the  man's 
adoration  for  her.  The  loved  woman,  reserved  but 
capable  of  voluptuous  joy,  is  the  most  desirable 
queen  on  the  throne  of  sensual  happiness.  She  wears 
the  halo  of  the  saints. 

It  is  only  when  the  cultural  inhibitions  become 
too  powerful  that  tragedy  begins.  But  the  voice  of 
the  times  is  being  heard  very  distinctly  and  the 
modern  movement  for  sexual  reform  is  in  a  good 
way  to  dissipate  and  destroy  for  ever  sexual  hy- 
pocrisy, sexual  ignorance  and  uncertainty,  secret 
fears  and  terrors. 

Between  knowing  it  all  and  knowing  nothing  there 
is  a  wide  bridge.  There  is  no  need  of  remaining  at 
either  end  of  that  bridge.  We  will  have  the  best 
view  from  the  middle  of  it. 

Repulsion,  caution,  ignorance,  anxiety  and  fear 
are  very  bad  torches  with  which  to  light  the  bridal 
chamber.  Woe  to  the  woman,  when  it  is  a  brutal  or 
an  ignorant  or  even  a  coarse  husband  who  ap- 
proaches the  nuptial  bed!  A  false  education  plus 
one  unpleasant  bridal  night  may  make  a  thousand 
frigid  wives. 

Finally  there  is  a  form  of  feminine  libido  which 
laughs  secretly  at  all  the  social  conventionalities 
and  at  all  the  inhibitions.  Secretly,  I  say,  for  extra- 
matrimonial  pregnancy  is  and  will  always  be  feared, 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  63 

as  it  means  civil  death  for  the  trespasser.  This 
libido  is  responsible  for  the  type  which  the  French 
aptly  designate  as  demi-vierges  (half -virgins),  the 
women  who  grant  to  their  lover  everything  but  that 
which  might  create  a  new  life. 

Some  one  may  ask  what  that  type  has  to  do  with 
an  article  on  frigidity.  Such  a  type  should,  on  the 
contrary,  be  well  adapted  to  the  purely  sexual  side 
of  married  life.  Quite  the  contrary.  I  have  cited 
in  my  monograph  a  case  of  vaginism  due  to  the 
prematrimonial  experiences  of  a  half -virgin.  Over- 
indulgence in  the  preliminaries  of  bi-sexual  love, 
that  is  all  the  possible  varieties  of  gratification  with 
the  exception  of  normal  intercourse,  developed  after 
marriage  a  frigidity  due  to  vaginism. 

Nature  creates  all  kinds  of  curious  sports,  espe- 
cially in  sexual  life  which  is  full  of  the  most  remark- 
able perversions.  Are  sexual  studies  of  any  practical 
use?  Can  frigidity  be  cured?  Frigidity  due  to 
mechanical  causes  can  in  many  cases;  so  can 
frigidity  due  to  psychic  causes.  But  the  task  is  an 
arduous  one,  which  taxes  heavily  the  powers  of  the 
practitioner  and  demands  a  great  deal  of  psychologi- 
cal prospecting  before  the  hidden  inhibitions  can  be 
located  and  destroyed. 

A  few  cases  seem  incurable.  Are  they  really  so? 
Science  has  its  limitations,  but,  in  that  field,  miracles 
are  still  possible. 


MISALLIANCES       AND       UNHAPPY      MAR- 
RIAGES: AN   IMPORTANT   BUT   NEVER 
REFERRED  TO  CAUSE 

BY  WILLIAM  J.  ROBINSON,  M.D. 

THE  very  quiet,  very  gentle,  very  obedient  and 
very  well  brought  up  son  of  a  highly  esteemed  leader 
of  ethical  culture  and  professor  of  ethics,  himself  a 
college  student  in  his  senior  year,  one  night  failed 
to  come  home ;  he  did  not  show  up  the  following  day, 
nor  the  following,  nor  for  several  following  days. 
To  avoid  publicity  the  parents  refrained  from  noti- 
fying the  police;  but  they  engaged  a  private  detec- 
tive, who  after  a  week's  search  informed  them  that 
he  had  traced  their  son  with  a  young  woman  to  a 
hotel,  where  they  had  registered  as  man  and  wife. 
The  father  wanted  to  rush  at  once  to  the  hotel,  but 
the  mother  thought  that  Bertrand  would  mind  it  less 
if  she  went  to  see  him.  But  when  she  came  to  the 
hotel  she  was  informed  that  the  young  couple  for 
whom  she  inquired  had  left  the  previous  night. 

For  two  weeks  they  heard  nothing,  and  then  they 
received  a  letter  in  which  Bertrand  informed  them 
that  he  was  married  to  the  sweetest  girl  in  the  world ; 
he  got  acquainted  with  her  some  three  months  ago, 
and  as  he  felt  that  she  was  essential  to  his  happiness, 

65 


66  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

to  his  very  life,  that  he  simply  could  not  live  with- 
out her,  and  as  he  feared  that  the  parents,  the  father 
particularly,  would  interpose  objections  and  at- 
tempt to  put  obstacles  in  their  way,  he  decided  to 
burn  his  bridges  behind  him  and  get  married.  They 
have  been  married  nearly  three  weeks  and  he  felt 
very  happy.  If  the  parents  were  willing  to  welcome 
him  and  his  wife  to  their  home,  he  would  be  glad  to 
return,  and  to  finish  his  studies.  If  not,  he  would  be 
looking  around  for  some  work  to  support  himself 
and  his  wife,  as  the  little  money  he  had,  from  his 
several  years'  savings,  was  coming  to  an  end.  As  to 
who  his  wife  was.  who  her  parents  were,  on  these 
points  he  vouchsafed  no  information. 

The  father  was  opposed  to  receiving  the  couple 
under  his  roof,  but  the  mother,  made  of  less  stern 
ethical  stuff,  prevailed  upon  him  to  forgive  his  son 
his  misstep,  "if  a  misstep  it  is." — "For  after  all 
how  can  one  know?  Maybe  she  will  make  him  a  fine 
wife.  He  is  young;  but  some  boys  make  out  much 
better  by  marrying  young." 

But  when  the  young  wife  came,  the  mother  knew. 
She  received  a  stab  in  the  heart  when  she  saw  her; 
she  knew  that  her  boy  was  doomed  to  misery  for 
many  years  to  come;  perhaps  forever.  She  was 
pretty,  there  was  no  doubt  about  that.  But  she  was 
common,  she  was  ignorant,  she  was  vulgar — there 
was  no  doubt  about  that,  either.  And  strange  to 
say,  Bertrand  did  not  seem  very  happy;  his  love 
seemed  in  the  brief  period  between  his  letter  and  his 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  67 

arrival  to  have  suffered  some  sort  of  shock.  One 
could  plainly  see  that  something  weighed  upon  his 
mind,  depressed  him,  crushed  him. 

The  mother  begged  him  to  give  her  his  confidence ; 
he  would  be  as  dear  to  her  as  ever  he  was,  and  if 
there  was  help  for  him  she  would  do  everything 
in  the  world  to  help  him. 

There  wasn't  much  to  tell.  He  had  met  her — Sadie 
was  her  name — in  the  "College  Barber  Shop,"  where 
she  was  employed  as  a  manicurist.  After  she  had 
manicured  his  hands  two  or  three  times  he  felt  he 
could  not  live  without  her.  He  began  to  frequent 
the  shop  daily,  having  his  hands  manicured  more  fre- 
quently than  is  the  custom,  or  than  his  finances  per- 
mitted him,  and  when  his  attentions  began  to  cause 
cynical  smiles  on  the  face  of  the  boss  and  the  em- 
ployees, he  asked  her  to  meet  him  in  the  evening,  to 
which  she,  after  some  hesitation,  agreed.  A  flame 
was  burning  within  him,  a  consuming  flame  which  he 
felt  nothing  could  quench  or  allay  except  a  close  sex 
intimacy  with  her.  He  did  not  want  to  look  too 
closely  into  her  antecedents  or  her  character,  for 
he  feared  to  learn  anything  unfavorable  about  her. 
He  did  not  want  to  know  the  truth,  if  the  truth  was 
apt  to  keep  him  away  from  her.  Whether  or  not 
she  would  have  permitted  a  close  intimacy,  with- 
out a  marriage  certificate,  he  could  not  say,  but  of 
course  he  would  never  have  thought  of  subjecting 
any  pure  girl  to  such  an  insult ;  his  bringing  up,  his 


68  SEXUAL  TEUTHS 

fine  ethical  conceptions  would  not  permit  such  a 
step. 

And  as  with  each  day,  nay,  each  hour,  life  with- 
out her  became  more  and  more  impossible,  prevent- 
ing him  from  doing  anything  in  the  daytime,  and 
making  each  night  an  interminable  torture,  he  de- 
cided to  take  the  step  which  he  felt  was  the  only  step 
for  him  to  take.  Any  attempt  at  dissuasion  would 
have  proved  useless,  or  would  have  accelerated  his 
step.  Within  a  week  after  their  marriage,  tiny 
gossamer  clouds  of  doubt  as  to  the  wisdom  of  his 
step  began  to  arise  in  his  mind,  but  the  flame  of  sex 
passion  quickly  consumed  them.  But  with  each  day 
that  passed  the  clouds  became  thicker  and  more 
resistant,  and  the  flame  less  consuming.  And  when 
she  found  out  that  he  was  not  the  rich  and  inde- 
pendent son  she  imagined  him  to  be,  she  was  quite 
ugly  about  it.  He  didn't  say  it,  but  she  divined  his 
thought,  and  her  answer  was  that  love  was  all  right, 
but  nowadays  girls  didn't  marry  for  love  alone; 
they  wanted  pretty  clothes  and  lots  of  them,  and 
every  decent  man  had  at  least  one  automobile.  And 
she  certainly  did  not  intend  to  stay  with  him  in  his 
parents'  house.  She  was  entitled  to  an  apartment 
of  her  own.  She  felt  bored  in  his  house,  and  she 
did  not  care  for  his  father  and  mother.  They  gave 
her  the  shivers. 

She  told  him  frankly  that  she  did  not  intend  to 
stay  in  the  house  from  morning  till  night,  that  she 
was  a  young  girl  and  she  needed  some  amusement. 


SEXUAL  TEUTHS  69 

If  he  was  too  busy  or  too  fastidious  (too  stuck-up, 
she  said)  to  go  with  her  to  the  movies  or  to  vaude- 
ville, she  would  have  to  go  alone  or  with  some  of 
her  old  friends. 

Her  absences  became  gradually  more  frequent  and 
more  prolonged,  and  not  very  rarely  it  was  one  or 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  she  came  home. 
Eumors  began  to  float  about  her  being  seen  in  ques- 
tionable cabarets  with  some  college  students,  un- 
doubtedly friends  of  hers  from  her  manicure  days. 
Bertrand  suffered,  but  suffered  in  silence. 

One  day  he  received  an  anonymous  letter,  in  which 
the  writer  who  signed  himself  Friend,  told  him  that 
he  was  a  boob  for  having  married  Sadie  Smith,  and 
that  he  was  a  double  boob  for  continuing  to  live 
with  her ;  that  there  were  very  few  students  who  had 
not  been  intimate  with  her  for  years,  that  the  loose- 
ness of  her  morals  was  known  to  everybody,  and 
that  she  has  resumed  relations  with  several  of  her 
former  friends.  The  letter  was  a  severe  slap  in  his 
face,  but  the  postscript  added  insult  to  injury,  or 
rather  injury  to  insult.  In  the  postscript,  he  was 
warned  to  take  good  care  of  himself,  as  it  would  not 
be  at  all  surprising  if  he  became  infected  with  some 
loathsome  disease. 

By  this  time  Bertrand  had  deep  contempt  for  "the 
finest  girl  in  the  world,"  but  she  still  held  some 
sway  over  him  with  her  sex  appeal.  For  she  looked 
even  prettier  than  before.  But  when  he  read  the 
letter,  he  decided  at  once  to  discontinue  all  rela- 


70  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

tions  with  her,  for  he  had  a  terrible  fear  of  venereal 
disease.  His  moral  bringing  up  included  a  whole- 
some, or  rather  unwholesome  because  greatly  ex- 
aggerated, fear  of  the  venereal  scourge.  Alas,  it 
was  too  late.  Two  days  later  the  symptoms  of  a 
well-known  disease  made  their  appearance.  He  dis- 
closed all  his  misery  to  his  mother.  He  would  have 
forgiven  his  wife  everything,  but  he  could  not  for- 
give her  careless,  and  brutal  wantonness  in  infecting 
him,  and  unable  to  restrain  his  anger  he  took  her  by 
the  shoulders  and  put  her  out  of  the  house.  He 
fears  a  public  scandal  and  he  is  supporting  her  with 
his  modest  means,  but  as  soon  as  he  is  through  with 
college  he  is  going  to  sue  for  divorce.  Bertrand, 
though  a  young  man,  is  a  broken  old  man.  And  the 
pity,  mixed  with  some  sneering  derision,  with  which 
some  students  look  at  him,  is  almost  more  than  he 
can  bear. 

Now  what  made  Bertrand  transform  a  common, 
vulgar,  ignorant  and  immoral  creature  into  the 
sweetest,  finest  girl  in  the  world,  into  an  angel  from 
heaven?  We  will  answer  the  question  later,  after 
we  have  referred  briefly  to  several  other  cases  which 
came  to  our  notice. 

Here  is  A.  B.,  a  shy  youth  of  twenty-two,  from  a 
good  family,  who  went  off  and  married  a  coarse  and 
ignorant  woman  fifteen  years  his  senior.  In  this 
case  there  was  even  no  infatuation;  he  was  not 
altogether  blind  to  her  defects,  but  there  was  an 
irresistible  physical  desire.  They  live  the  life  of  a 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  71 

cat  and  dog,  but  she  will  not  free  him,  and  as  there 
are  two  children  as  a  result  of  the  union,  he  can- 
not break  away  from  her.  And  a  life  full  of  promise 
has  been  irretrievably  ruined. 

Professor  B.  C.,  a  famous  stylist  and  writer, 
author  of  many  books,  a  man  of  international,  repu- 
tation, becomes  entangled  with  his  stenographer,  and 
to  avoid  a  scandal  and  a  suit  for  breach  of  promise, 
is  obliged  to  marry  her.  Now  there  is  nothing  wrong 
with  a  stenographer  per  se ;  some  people  have  mar- 
ried stenographers  and  have  lived  happily  ever 
after.  But  this  one  showed  herself  a  very  devil  as 
soon  as  the  marriage  ceremony  was  performed.  He 
was  of  a  shy  retiring  disposition,  devoted  to  his 
books  and  writings,  while  she  wanted  to  be  out  all 
the  time  and  "enjoy"  herself.  She  spent  ex- 
travagantly on  clothes,  and  made  bills  which  were 
beyond  his  means  to  meet.  He  labored  harder  and 
harder,  longer  and  longer  hours,  began  to  do  hack 
work  and  send  out  pot-boilers,  but  he  could  not  keep 
up  with  her  cynical  and  heartless  extravagance.  He 
was  being  sued,  he  gave  notes  which  he  could  not 
meet,  he  noticed  a  decided  deterioration  in  the  qual- 
ity of  his  work,  and  rather  than  go  on,  he  settled 
all  accounts  by  blowing  his  brains  out. 

And  C.  D.  was  a  jolly  fellow,  full  of  life  and  vim 
and  whims;  he  could  keep  a  company  laughing  for 
hours  at  a  time,  full  of  stories  and  jokes,  and  al- 
ways ready — not  only  ready  but  anxious — to  render 
a  service  to  a  friend  or  a  stranger.  He  was  uni- 


72  SEXUAL  TKUTHS 

versally  liked;  now  he  is  universally  pitied.  His 
wife  has  made  him  gradually  break  with  his  former 
friends,  hardly  anybody  visits  their  house,  his  mood 
is  that  of  a  chronic  gloom,  and  he  has  forgotten  how 
to  laugh.  He  has  lost  all  ambition,  and  leads  a 
practically  vegetative  existence.  Maritally,  he  and 
his  wife  have  been  strangers  for  several  years. 

Now,  what  has  made  C.  D.  marry  his  present  wife, 
whom  everybody  knew  to  be  a  quarrelsome,  un- 
truthful shrew,  and  whom  he  himself  disliked  the 
first  time  he  met  her? 

To  answer  this  question  is  to  answer  the  cor- 
responding questions  in  the  cases  of  A.  B.,  B.  C.,  and 
Bertrand  X.  and  thousands  of  similar  cases  of  mis- 
alliances and  unhappy  marriages. 

In  each  case,  the  life  of  complete  sexual  abstinence 
which  the  man  lived  resulted  in  a  pent-up  libido,  or 
to  use  a  physico-chemical  term,  a  supersaturation  of 
the  system  with  libidinogen,  which  muddled  his  brain 
and  blurred  his  vision,  made  him  idealize  cunning 
into  cleverness,  vulgarity  into  independence,  made 
him  see  a  romantic  Juliette  in  a  prosaic  and  illiterate 
cook,  and  an  angel  from  heaven  in  a  coarse,  selfish, 
immoral  stenographer.  If  doubts  ever  arose  in  those 
people's  minds  as  to  the  wisdom  of  their  step,  they 
were  quickly  beaten  down  and  consumed  by  the  fire 
of  the  libido  sexualis.  Had  those  people  lived  a 
sexually  normal  life,  they  would  not  have  made  those 
foolish  and  in  many  instances  fatal  steps. 

We  are  not  suggesting  any  remedies  for  mis- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  73 

alliances  of  this  character.  It  is  possible  that  the 
universal  indulgence  in  illicit  relations  before  mar- 
riage would  result  in  greater  evils  than  is  caused  by 
abstinence.  We  are  merely  stating  facts  as  we 
know  them,  and  there  is  no  question  that  complete 
sexual  abstinence,  with  its  pent-up  libido  and  lack 
of  emotional  outlet  of  any  sort,  is  responsible  for 
many,  very  many  misalliances  and  unhappy  mar- 
riages and  ruined  careers  and  suicides.  As  soon  as 
the  accumulated  libido  has  been  discharged,  as  soon 
as  the  cobwebs  from  their  brain  have  been  cleared 
and  the  scales  from  their  eyes  removed,  they  per- 
ceive what  a  terrible  blunder  they  have  made,  but  it 
is  then,  under  our  stupid  divorce  laws,  difficult  or  im- 
possible to  correct  the  blunder. 

What  we  have  said  here  about  men  applies  with 
equal  force  to  women.  Here  is  a  refined  and  cul- 
tured girl  who  ran  away  and  got  married  to  a 
chauffeur.  Here  a  fine  well-to-do  college  graduate 
marries  a  worthless  ignorant  cad,  whom  she  begins 
to  despise  and  with  whom  she  refuses  to  live  after 
they  have  been  married  a  week.  There  a  girl  of 
twenty-four  marries  a  man  of  fifty,  and  not  for  the 
sake  of  a  good  home,  either — which  is  deplorable  but 
comprehensible — who  tyrannizes  over  her  in  a  most 
shameful  manner.  And  here  a  girl  of  twenty-five 
runs  away  with  her  music  teacher,  who  is  forty-five 
years  old,  and  who  has  a  wife  and  three  children; 
she  expects  him  to  get  a  divorce  and  to  marry  him, 
and  it  is  only  the  poltroonery  of  the  man  after  a  life 


74  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

together  for  three  days  that  reveals  him  to  her  in 
his  true  colors  and  makes  her  run  back  home. 

There  are  thousands  of  such  tragic  examples.  And 
in  each  case  the  cause  is  pent-up  libido  and  lack  of 
emotional  outlet.  The  first  cause  is  physical,  which 
under  our  present  moral  and  social  code,  cannot  in 
the  case  of  women  be  helped.  The  second  is  psychic, 
which  ought  to  be  helped,  and  which  in  the  case  of 
women  is  helped  even  more  readily  than  in  the  case 
of  men.  Women  or  rather  girls  can  get  along  with- 
out the  physical  manifestations  of  sex  much  more 
readily  than  men ;  but  some  outlet  for  their  pent-up 
emotions,  some  platonic  friendships,  they  must 
have.  If  they  have  not,  disaster  is  sure  to  follow,  in 
the  vast  majority  of  instances. 


SEXUAL  ABSTINENCE  AND  NERVOUSNESS 
BY  SAMUEL  A.  TANNENBAUM,  M.D.,  NEW  YORK 

IN  opening  up  for  discussion  in  an  association  of 
general  practitioners  of  medicine  so  old  and  time- 
worn  a  subject  as  this  of  the  relationship  between 
sexual  abstinence  and  the  functional  neuroses,  I  am 
actuated  by  three  considerations:  (1)  the  study  of 
the  sexual  life  is  still  omitted  from  the  curricula  of 
our  medical  schools,  and,  consequently,  physicians 
are  as  ignorant  of  the  sexual  functions  as  laymen 
are;  (2)  there  is  still  no  approach  to  unanimity  of 
opinion,  even  among  specialists,  on  any  phase  of  the 
many  questions  suggested  by  and  emanating  from 
the  subject ;  (3)  the  facts  obtained  by  the  studies  and 
investigations  of  Freud  and  his  disciples  throw  so 
much  light  on  the  vita  sexualis  and  are  so  sugges- 
tive and  significant  that  they  are  bound  to  be 
of  the  greatest  interest  to  physicians,  sociologists, 
moralists,  pedagogues,  and  others  having  the  wel- 
fare of  humanity  at  heart.  It  is  no  exaggeration 
to  say  that  without  the  guidance  of  Freud's  teach- 
ings and  the  application  of  his  method  of  psycho- 
analysis it  is  impossible  to  get  at  the  truth  concern- 
ing the  sexual  life  of  modern  civilized  human  beings. 
Almost  all  persons,  even  invalids,  consider  their 

75 


76  SEXUAL  TKUTHS 

sexual  life  to  be  so  personal  and  private  a  matter 
that  they  do  not  speak  of  it  even  to  their  medical 
adviser;  physicians  share  the  conventional  reti- 
cence of  their  patients  and,  in  addition,  lack  the  tact 
and  ability  to  elicit  the  facts ;  and  women,  even  when 
questioned,  almost  always  refuse  to  give  up  the 
truth  about  their  sexual  life.  Besides,  very  few 
physicians,  and  still  fewer  laymen,  associate  their 
nervous  and  many  other  ailments  with  disturbances 
or  abnormalities  in  the  sexual  functions. 

"Nervousness"  and  Sexual  Restraints. — And,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  Freud  was  the  first  one  to  main- 
tain and  champion  the  existence  of  a  relationship 
between  the  tremendous  increase  of  "nervousness" 
that  characterizes  modern  civilization  and  the  sexual 
practices  resulting  from  our  moral  standard.  Care- 
ful consideration  of  the  clinical  data  proves  that 
the  influences  conventionally  assigned  as  the  causes 
of  nervousness,  such  as  the  excessive  use  of  tobacco, 
coffee,  or  tea,  alcoholism,  overwork,  the  strain  and 
stress  of  modern  civilization,  etc.,  are  wholly  inade- 
quate to  account  for  the  great  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  neurotics,  or  to  throw  light  on  the  great 
variety  of  symptoms  manifested  by  different  pa- 
tients. ' '  Nervousness ' '  occurs  very  frequently  even 
among  total  abstainers  from  the  chronic  intoxicants, 
in  those  who  "take  life  easy"  and  in  those  who  are 
not  overburdened  with  culture.  Very  early  in  his 
investigations  Freud  became  convinced  that  the  in- 
crease in  the  neuroses  is  the  direct  result  of  the 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  77 

checks  and  restrictions  which  invest  the  sexual  life 
of  the  more  highly  civilized  communities  and  that 
only  in  this  sense  can  modern  culture  be  held  ac- 
countable for  the  vast  and  ever-increasing  number 
of  neurotics.  All  later  experiences  only  go  to  con- 
firm his  dictum  that  no  matter  what  other  factors 
may  be  at  work,  without  some  departure  from  the 
normal  sexuality  of  the  individual  there  can  be  no 
neurosis.  The  essence  of  all  these  abnormalities  is, 
as  I  shall  show,  the  non-obtainment  of  sexual  grati- 
fication,— the  non-gratification  of  the  libido. 

Infantile  Sexuality. — For  the  proper  understand- 
ing of  our  theme,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
say  first  something  about  the  sexuality  of  infancy 
and  childhood.  Contrary  to  general  belief  and  the, 
statements  even  of  experts,  the  sexual  instinct  does 
not  spring  into  life  suddenly  about  the  age  of 
puberty.  The  sexual  instinct  accompanies  man  on 
his  living  journey  from  the  moment  of  his  birth  to 
the  moment  of  his  dissolution,  all  the  while  under- 
going a  definite  course  of  evolution  and  having 
definite  characteristics  for  each  period  of  the  in- 
dividual's life.  In  the  earliest  period  of  his  child- 
hood a  human  being  is  almost  wholly  auto-erotic, 
i.  e.,  he  obtains  sexual  gratification  chiefly  from  his 
own  body;  but  inasmuch  as  the  genital  glands  are 
undeveloped  and  have  no  sexual  function,  the 
genitals  proper  play  only  a  small  part,  but  a  by  no 
means  insignificant  part,  in  the  child's  sexual  activi- 
ties. All  truth-telling  parents  have  observed  the 


78  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

little  darlings  rubbing,  pulling,  or  otherwise  playing 
with  their  genitals — masturbating.  Infants,  how- 
ever, obtain  their  sexual  pleasures  chiefly  from  por- 
tions of  the  body  known  as  erogenous  zones.  By  an 
erogenous  zone  is  meant  any  organ  or  a  portion  of 
skin  or  mucous  membrane  the  suitable  stimulation 
of  which  produces  a  pleasurable  sensation  of  a 
sexual  nature.  The  lips  are  a  very  important  source 
of  sexual  gratification  for  infants,  as  may  be  judged 
from  the  frequency  and  pleasure  with  which  children 
pass  their  time  in  sucking  various  parts  of  their 
body,  e.  g.,  the  toe,  the  thumb,  the  tip  of  the  tongue, 
or  other  object.  Another  important  source  of  sexual 
gratification  in  infancy  is  the  anal  zone.  The 
pleasure  derived  from  the  passage  of  hardened 
faeces  is  such  that  the  child  holds  back  the  evacua- 
tion of  his  bowels  as  long  as  possible  and  this  lays 
the  foundation  for  obstinate  constipation  and  other 
intestinal  disturbances.  Rubbing  of  the  anal  zone 
with  the  fingers  is  not  at  all  rare  in  children.  The 
urethral  zone  also  has  tremendous  sexual  signifi- 
cance for  infants ;  and  this  accounts  for  the  frequency 
and  obstinacy  of  bed-wetting  by  night  or  day  and 
some  other  bladder  disturbances.  Clinical  experi- 
ence shows  that  when  wetting  of  the  bed  does  not 
replace  an  epileptic  attack,  it  means  a  pollution. 
The  skin  is  the  erogenous  zone  par  excellence  and 
is  the  seat  of  the  pleasure  derived  from  being  tickled, 
stroked  or  spanked,  from  scratching,  taking  a  warm 
bath,  etc. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  79 

Besides  the  auto-erotic  pleasures  emanating  from 
the  stimulation  of  these  and  other  erogenous  zones 
(secondary  sexual  organs)  young  children  also  de- 
rive sexual  gratification  from  activities  relating  to 
other  persons  than  themselves.  Chief  among  these 
are  the  pleasures  obtained  from  exhibiting  their 
genitals  to  their  comrades  and  elders  (Exhibition- 
ism), looking  at  the  genitals  of  others  (Voyeurism), 
watching  other  persons  attending  to  their  excretory 
functions,  and  inflicting  suffering  upon  others 
(Sadism)  or  delighting  in  pain  (Masochism).  This 
by  no  means  exhausts  the  sources  of  sexual  pleasure 
in  infancy,  but  it  is  sufficient  to  show  the  justice 
of  Freud's  dictum  that  as  regards  their  sexuality  in* 
fants  are  polymorph-perverse,  i.  e.,  by  nature  pre- 
disposed to  all  sorts  of  sexual  perversions  and  to 
inversion.  In  connection  with  this  it  is  important  to 
bear  in  mind  that  just  as  the  normal  individual  is 
to  a  certain  degree  anatomically  hermaphroditic  so 
is  he  normally  functionally  bisexual,  and  that  in  the 
course  of  his  evolution  the  homosexual  tendency  is 
stunted,  dwarfed,  repressed,  and  the  heterosexual 
developed.  That  the  child's  sexual  curiosity  and 
sexual  activities  are  accompanied  with  fantasies  in- 
volving his  parents  or  other  immediate  relatives  goes 
almost  without  saying. 

The  Sexual  Latency  Period. — The  period  of  in- 
fantile sexuality  is  followed  by  the  period  of  latent 
sexuality  (6th  to  13th  or  14th  year)  which  is  char- 
acterized by  the  cessation  of  masturbation,  the 


80  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

repression  of  the  sense  of  sexual  gratification 
emanating  from  the  erogenous  zones  and  from  the 
partial  impulses,  the  further  development  of  the 
genital  organs,  the  evolution  of  those  psychic  forces 
(disgust,  shame,  moral  and  aesthetic  ideas)  which 
serve  to  inhibit  and  restrict  the  sexual  life,  and  the 
deviation  of  sexual  energies  from  sexual  aims  to 
new  and  higher  aims,  viz.:  in  the  interests  of  edu- 
cation and  culture.  The  extent  to  which  the  in- 
dividual's sexuality  can  be  sublimated  or  refined 
into  energies  of  other  sorts  (Sublimation)  varies 
with  different  individuals  just  as  does  the  intensity 
of  the  sexual  instinct ;  but  in  only  very  rare  instances 
is  it  possible  to  transmute  all  of  one's  sexual  energies 
into  energies  and  activities  of  other  sorts.  In  a 
very  large  number  of  children  there  is  a  breaking 
through,  a  curtailment  or  suspension  of  the  latency 
period  as  a  result  of  a  spontaneous  sexual  prema- 
turity, and  there  ensues  a  period  of  all  sorts  of 
perverse  sexual  activities.  When  this  happens,  the 
subsequent  psychic  control  of  the  sexual  impulse 
becomes  a  very  difficult  matter  and  there  results 
either  the  fixation  of  a  perverse  tendency  or  the 
development  of  a  neurosis. 

Puberty  and  Adolescence. — With  the  advent  of 
puberty  very  important  anatomical,  physiological, 
and  psychological  changes  take  place  in  the  human 
economy,  most  of  which  are  too  well-known  to  be 
enumerated  here.  Less  well  known  and  little  under- 
stood, but  of  very  great  importance,  are  the  changes 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  81 

that  take  place  at  this  time  in  the  internal  secretions 
of  the  thymus  gland,  the  hypophysis  cerehri,  the 
pineal  gland,  the  thyroid  gland,  the  adrenal  bodies, 
the  testes,  ovaries  and,  perhaps,  other  glandular 
structures.  With  these  changes  there  go  along  very 
important  and  complex  functional  changes  in  the 
sexual  sphere.  The  sexual  impulse  loses  its  auto- 
erotic  character,  becomes  hetero-erotic  and  acquires 
a  new  aim,  the  discharge  of  the  sexual  products ;  the 
partial  sexual  impulses  cooperate  in  the  production 
of  the  new  and  extremely  pleasurable  sexual  aim  and 
the  erogenous  zones  are  subordinated  to  the  primacy 
of  the  genitals.  Obviously  all  these  changes  are 
brought  about  in  the  interests  of  the  impulses  of 
self-preservation  and  the  propagation  of  the  species. 
The  sexual  apparatus  of  the  adult  is  aroused  to 
activity  by  various  stimuli  emanating  from  three 
sources,  viz.  (1)  from  the  outer  world  through  the 
erogenous  zones  (eyes,  ears,  etc.) ;  (2)  from  the 
presence  within  the  body  of  various  hormones  and 
sexual  substance,  and  (3)  from  the  psychic  sphere. 
Very  little  reflection  will  show  that  modern  society 
is  very  rich  in  stimuli  to  the  sexual  impulses.  We 
need  mention  only  the  costumes  of  women  (reveal- 
ing what  they  are  intended  to  conceal),  cosmetics 
and  perfumes,  erotic  dances,  romantic  novels,  sug- 
gestive jokes,  sentimental  pictures,  pornographic 
''literature,"  the  sexual  drama  and  sensuous  music. 
The  housing  conditions  of  the  poor  are  particularly 
calculated  to  arouse  the  sexual  passions  of  our  boys 


82  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

and  girls  before  and  after  puberty.  The  mental  con- 
centration demanded  of  children  in  schools  and  col- 
leges, the  strain  and  worry  associated  with  passing 
examinations,  the  exhilaration  accompanying  va- 
rious kinds  of  muscular  activity  and  mechanical  ex- 
citation of  the  body,  the  stirring  up  of  the  affective 
processes  by  theatrical  displays,  etc.,  all  tend  pow- 
erfully to  excite  the  sexual  impulses.  In  addition 
to  all  these  forces,  very  few  boys  and  girls  escape 
seduction  into  evil  practices  bv  comrades  and  older 
associates. 

As  a  result  of  all  these  and  other  stimuli  there  is 
brought  about  a  state  of  sexual  excitation  which 
manifests  itself  in  numerous  physical  signs  as  well 
as  in  a  peculiar,  unpleasant  state  of  psychic  tension 
which  craves  for  urgent  relief.  This  coveted  pleasure 
and  relief  can  normally  be  brought  about  only  in 
one  way :  by  the  discharge  of  the  accumulated  sexual 
substance  during  normal  coitus. 

Normal  Coitus. — That  normal  coitus  should  ac- 
complish its  object  of  freeing  the  sexual  tension  and 
temporarily  quenching  the  sexual  desires  it  is  not 
sufficient  for  two  people  of  opposite  sexes  to  perform 
the  sexual  act.  Normal  coitus  requires  not  only  the 
discharge  of  sexual  substance  but  the  gratification 
of  many  of  the  accessory  sexual  components  before 
the  attainment  of  the  "end  pleasure"  (the  dis- 
charge). Before  there  can  be  a  complete  and  ade- 
quate discharge  of  the  accumulated  libido,  there 
must  be  a-complete  self-surrender  to  the  task  in  hand, 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  83 

an  absence  of  all  restraining  influences  (fear,  shame, 
disgust,  etc.)>  and  an  augmentation  of  the  sexual  ten- 
sion by  the  stimulation  of  certain  of  the  erogenous 
zones  and  partial  impulses  (kissing,  hugging, 
tickling,  touching,  etc.).  In  other  words,  there  must 
be  that  over-valuation  of  the  sexual  partner  and  of 
every  part  of  him  or  her  that  constitutes  love.  Un- 
less these  conditions  are  complied  with,  there  ensues 
only  a  partial  liberation  of  sexual  tension,  and  in  a 
short  time  a  chronic  sexual  toxemia  results. 

Our  Moral  Standard. — The  conventional,  i.  e., 
theoretical,  morals  of  the  most  highly  civilized  com- 
munities do  not  permit  adolescents  and  adults  to 
indulge  in  normal  coitus  before  marriage,  and  if  they 
do  not  marry,  they  are  assumed  to  remain  chaste 
until  death.  Widows  and  widowers  must  also  re- 
frain from  sexual  intercourse  until  they  remarry. 
In  other  words,  sexual  indulgence  is  restricted  to 
those  who  have  entered  into  monogamous  marriage, 
and  the  form  of  indulgence  is  limited  to  the  union 
of  the  genitals  in  normal  coitus.  Homosexual  and 
perverse  practices  are  considered  very  serious 
offenses  against  morality  and  punishable  by  im- 
prisonment and  ostracism.  Indulgence  in  sexual 
gratification  by  the  unmarried  is  not  considered 
criminal  but  sinful  and  immoral.  Owing  to  the  prob- 
able consequences  women  particularly  are  enforced 
to  chastity.  And  when  one  takes  modern  social  and 
economic  conditions  into  consideration  and  the  con- 
sequent practical  inability  of  young  men  and  women 


84  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

entering  into  marriage  until  they  have  established 
financial  independence  from  their  parents,  it  follows 
that  they  are  required  to  refrain  from  sexual  in- 
dulgence until  they  are  anywhere  from  25  to  35  years 
of  age. 

Certain  Peculiarities  of  the  Sexual  Instinct. — One 
of  the  best  established  results  of  modern  psycho- 
analytic research  is  the  fact  that  the  sexuality  of 
different  individuals  varies  (1)  quantitatively,  (2) 
qualitatively,  (3)  as  to  capacity  for  sublimation,  and 
(4)  as  to  imperiousness.  Just  as  persons  vary  as  to 
the  quantity  of  food,  sleep,  drink  or  rest  that  their 
constitutions  require,  so  do  they  vary  as  to  the 
quantity  of  sexual  indulgence  requisite  to  gratify 
their  libido.  Some  are  content  with  coitus  once  a 
week,  or  once  a  fortnight ;  others  require  it  daily  or 
even  several  times  daily.  Even  more  important  than 
this  are  the  qualitative  differences  among  indi- 
viduals. As  a  result  of  congenital  predisposition  and 
acquired  tendencies  resulting  from  infantile  experi- 
ences, the  normal  evolution  of  the  sexual  impulse 
from  the  infantile  bisexuality  to  the  adult  hetero- 
sexuality  is  interfered  with  in  various  ways  and  there 
result  all  sorts  and  degrees  of  inversions  and  per- 
versions. By  inversion  we  mean  that  form  of  sexual 
aberration  which  consists  in  the  sexual  attraction  of 
one  individual  for  another  individual  of  his  own 
sex.  Individuals  possessing  this  trait  may  be  di- 
vided according  to  Freud  into  three  classes:  those 
who  are  absolutely  inverted,  amphigenously  in- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  g5 

verted,  and  occasionally  inverted.  The  absolutely 
inverted  are  characterized  by  a  total  indifference  or 
repugnance  for  persons  of  the  opposite  sex  and 
therefore  are  incapable  of  normal  coitus  or  derive 
no  pleasure  in  its  performance.  The  amphigenously 
inverted,  or  psycho-sexual  hermaphrodites,  enjoy 
sexual  relations  with  either  sex.  The  occasionally 
inverted  are  normal  heterosexual  persons  who,  be- 
cause of  external  conditions,  may  find  sexual  grati- 
fication in  a  person  of  the  same  sex.  As  to  the  sexual 
aim  of  inverts  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  they  are 
by  no  means  all  guilty  of  such  acts  as  pederasty 
(intercourse  per  anum),  fellatorism  (intercourse 
per  os),  etc.  In  fact  masturbation  is  probably  just 
as  frequently  the  sole  sexual  aim  as  all  the  others 
combined,  and  a  purely  ideal  love  (i.  e.,  without  any 
sexual  act)  is  extremely  frequent  in  inverts.  Then 
too  one  must  not  forget  that  there  are  many  perfect- 
ly normal  (i.  e.,  sane)  individuals  who  choose  for  the 
sexual  object  children,  and  others,  notably  in  the 
country,  who  are  attracted  by  animals  (soophilia). 
By  a  pervert  we  mean  a  heterosexual  individual 
whose  sexual  aim  is  not  normal  coitus  but  some  other 
form  of  sexual  activity.  Freud  divides  the  perver- 
sions into  (a)  anatomical  transgressions  of  the  por- 
tions of  the  body  destined  for  the  sexual  union  and 
(b)  lingering  at  the  preliminary  excitants  to  the 
sexual  aim  to  such  an  extent  as  to  take  the  place  of 
the  normal  aim.  A  study  of  a  large  number  of  per- 
verts has  shown  that  almost  any  portion  of  the  body 


86  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

may  be  utilized  as  genitals,  e.  g.,  the  mouth  zone, 
the  anal  zone,  the  breasts,  the  axillae,  ete.,  giving 
rise  to  the  perversions  known  as  fellatorism, 
pederasty,  sapphism,  etc.  When  the  usual  (i.  e., 
normal)  preliminaries  to  normal  coitus  are  pro- 
longed to  such  an  extent  as  to  form  them  into  new 
sexual  aims  and  to  do  away  with  the  desire  for  the 
normal  sexual  act,  we  have  such  perversions  as  ex- 
hibitionism, voyeurism,  mutual  masturbation, 
*auism,  masochism,  etc. 

Under  perversions,  too,  we  must  include  the  large 
number  of  fetichists,  i.  e.,  persons  who  substitute  for 
the  normal  sexual  object  (a  person  of  the  opposite 
sex)  some  object  which  is  in  some  way  related  to 
it  but  which  is  totally  unfit  for  the  normal  sexual 
aim  (coitus).  In  addition  to  these  we  must  men- 
tion those  aberrations  which  may  properly  be  de- 
scribed as  morbid  perversions,  i.  e.,  cases  in  which 
the  normal  impulse  is  supplanted  by  cravings  in- 
compatible with  the  normal  resistances  of  shame, 
disgust  and  fear.  Among  these  we  include  urolagnia, 
coprophilia,  etc.  The  proportion  of  the  individual's 
sexual  energies  that  lends  itself  to  sublimation  or 
conversion  varies  greatly;  some  may  sublimate  a 
very  large  part,  others  only  very  little,  and  in  no  case 
is  it  possible  to  sublimate  all  of  it,  i.  e.,  to  do  away 
with  the  sexual  craving  altogether.  The  sexual  in- 
stinct cannot  be  crushed:  it  may  be  abused,  mal- 
treated, etc.,  but,  like  murder,  it  will  out.  The  in- 
stinct is  so  imperative  in  its  demands  that  it  is  nor- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  87 

mally  only  very  poorly  controlled  (inhibited)  by  the 
higher  psychic  activities.  This  instinct  is  stronger, 
more  insistent  and  more  imperative  than  the  voice 
of  conscience  or  religion  or  the  fear  of  disease. 
Nature  cannot  be  thwarted  in  its  designs.  The  con- 
tinuous production  of  sexual  substance,  the  constant 
production  of  the  hormones,  and  the  pressure  on  the 
sexual  reservoirs,  produce  and  maintain  a  state  of 
sexual  tension  and  a  craving  for  relief  which  is 
heightened  by  the  manifold  stimulation  of  the 
erogenous  zones  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  the 
performance  of  the  sexual  act  almost  imperative.  In 
this  way  nature  assures  the  propagation  of  the 
species. 

Sexual  Abstinence  Defined. — The  failure  to  take 
the  preceding  facts  into  consideration  has  resulted 
in  a  failure  hitherto  to  reach  a  satisfactory  definition 
of  the  term  "sexual  abstinence. "  Every  writer  on 
the  subject  gave  a  different  definition.  Most  writers 
heretofore  have  considered  him  abstinent  who  re- 
frains from  coitus  with  a  person  of  the  opposite  sex. 
Obviously  such  a  definition  leaves  out  of  considera- 
tion the  large  number  of  inverts  and  perverts  and 
masturbators  who  derive  sexual  gratification  in  other 
ways  than  in  normal  coitus,  and  yet  these  are  cer- 
tainly not  abstinent.  And  on  the  other  hand  a  per- 
vert or  invert  may  indulge  in  normal  sexual  inter- 
course without  obtaining  the  least  gratification  from 
the  act;  on  the  contrary  he  or  she  may  be  repelled 
by  a  person  of  the  opposite  sex  and  be  disgusted  with 


88  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

the  act.  In  such  a  case  there  is  absolutely  no  dis- 
charge of  the  libido,  no  liberation  of  sexual  tension, 
no  relief  from  psychic  discomfort,  but  on  the  con- 
trary a  damming  up  of  the  libido,  a  further  intoxi- 
cation, an  increase  of  psychic  discomfort,  and  such, 
a  person  is  really  abstinent  though  he  indulges  in 
coitus  daily.  Perverts  and  inverts  are  sexually 
abstinent  if  they  refrain  for  a  long  time  from  the 
particular  form  of  sexual  indulgence  which  gives 
them  sexual  gratification.  A  person  who  refrains 
from  sexual  intercourse  with  a  person  of  the  oppo- 
site sex  but  derives  sexual  gratification  in  other  ways 
(e.  g.,  masturbation,  fetichism,  etc.),  is  only  ap- 
parently sexually  abstinent;  whereas  a  person  who 
refrains  from  that  particular  form  of  activity  which 
gives  him  sexual  gratification,  although  he  have  oc- 
casional or  frequent  discharges  of  sexual  substance, 
is  really  sexually  abstinent.  We  thus  reach  V. 
Muller's  definition  of  sexual  abstinence  as  'ab- 
stinence [for  a  long  time]  from  physical  gratifica- 
tion of  the  type  of  sexuality  characteristic  of  the 
person  concerned.'  (Sexual-Probleme,  1909,  p.  309) 
or  refraining  from  the  specific  act  called  for  by  the 
individual's  libido.  It  goes  without  saying  that  in 
ths  discussion  of  this  topic  we  assume  the  existence 
of  a  sexual  appetite  and  the  presence  of  normal 
genitals.  A  person  born  without  a  sexual  instinct 
or  with  deformed  organs  cannot  be  included  in  the 
study  of  the  normal.  A  word  of  warning  must  also 
be  sounded  against  confounding  "  sexual  abstinence" 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  89 

with  "chastity"  or  "sexual  purity";  the  two  con- 
ceptions have  nothing  to  do  with  each  other. 

Causes  of  Abstinence. — Considering  the  imperious 
nature  of  the  sexual  instinct  and  the  consequences 
resulting  from  the  failure  to  gratify  it,  we  must 
consider  the  causes  that  lead  to  sexual  abstinence. 
For  our  purpose  we  may  divide  sexual  abstinence 
into  two  classes:  voluntary  abstinence  and  involun- 
tary abstinence.  Involuntary  abstinence,  to  take  the 
latter  first,  results  from  causes  beyond  the  indi- 
vidual's control  and  often  without  his  knowledge; 
e.  g.,  (1)  indulgence  in  a  form  of  sexual  activity 
which  is  not  calculated  to  gratify  the  libido  peculiar 
to  the  individual  concerned.  Chronic  masturbators, 
inverts,  perverts,  persons  dominated  by  an  incest 
complex,  women  who  do  not  'love  their  husbands, 
etc.,  who  indulge  in  coitus  without  obtaining  grati- 
fication, are  involuntarily  abstinent.  In  general  it 
may  be  said  that  involuntary  abstinence  results  from 
an  arrest  of  development  at  some  infantile  stage  of 
sexuality  (fixation) ;  or  a  regression-to  some  infantile 
stage.  The  reasons  for  voluntary  abstinence  are 
numerous,  but  only  the  chief  of  them  can  be 
enumerated  here  briefly:  (1)  the  inability,  owing  to 
pecuniary  considerations,  of  the  man  to  hire  the 
services  of  a  puella  publica;  (2)  the  impracticability, 
owing  to  economic  considerations,  of  the  adult  male 
and  female  to  enter  into  marriage  and  assume  the 
responsibilities  of  parenthood;  (3)  the  fear  of  preg- 
nancy; (4)  religious,  moral  and  ethical  considera- 


90  SEXUAJL  TRUTHS 

tions;  (5)  the  fear  of  venereal  infection  from  coitus 
with  a  puella  publica;  (6)  separation  from  the  law- 
ful sexual  mate  because  of  business  and  other  con- 
siderations; (7)  the  fear  of  injury  to  bodily  health 
in  persons  suffering  from  diseases  of  the  heart, 
arteries,  lungs,  etc. ;  (8)  marital  disharmony  and  in- 
compatibility; (9)  vanity  and  social  duties  (in 
women) ;  (10)  the  fear  of  injuring  the  fetus  in  the 
latter  months  of  pregnancy;  (11)  mechanical  inter- 
ferences to  the  act,  e.  g.,  obesity,  late  months  of  preg- 
nancy, etc.;  (12)  the  desire  to  limit  the  number  of 
offspring;  (13)  the  fear  of  the  law  for  infringing 
on  restrictions  against  homosexuality  and  perver- 
sions; (14)  fear  of  social  ostracism;  (15)  fear  of 
injury  to  health  or  to  mind  from  masturbation;  (16) 
turning  away  from  persons  of  the  opposite  sex  be- 
cause of  unhappy  experiences  with  them,  etc.  Con- 
genital absence  of  libido  and  deformity  of  sexual 
organs  are  obviously  not  considered  here. 

Abstinence  in  the  Married. — Paradoxical  as  it  may 
sound,  a  very  large  percentage  of  married  people  are 
abstinent.  Marriage,  we  may  add,  is  a  civic  institu- 
tion having  for  its  purposes  mutual  sexual  gratifi- 
cation and  the  preservation  of  health.  After  the  age 
of  puberty  young  men  and  women  are  urged  to  re- 
main absolutely  abstinent  and  to  husband  their 
energies  in  anticipation  of  marriage.  As  a  result  of 
the  high  cost  of  living,  starvation  wages,  the  desire 
to  live  up  to  the  ever-changing  fashions,  to  enjoy 
the  benefits  of  modern  inventions  and  work-saving 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  91 

devices,  to  frequent  the  theatres,  to  discharge  one's 
social  duties,  and,  above  all,  the  desire  to  shirk  the 
difficulties  and  responsibilities  of  begetting  and  edu- 
cating children,  almost  all  married  people  resort 
sooner  or  later  to  some  method  of  preventing  concep- 
tion. Various  alleged  preventives  are  soon  found  to 
be  unreliable  as  protective  measures.  Then  resort  is 
had  to  coitus  condomatus,  coitus  reservatus,  etc., 
although  these  methods  do  not  gratify  the  libido.  If 
the  husband  refuses  to  adopt  these  methods  of  inter- 
course, quarrels  ensue,  and  sooner  or  later  the  mar- 
ried couple  abandon  sexual  relations  altogether  or 
resort  to  masturbation.  Psychic  causes,  e.  g., 
frigidity,  psychic  impotence,  etc.,  also  frequently  lead 
to  abstinence.  Organic  diseases,  e.  g.,  chronic 
urethritis,  chronic  congestion  of  the  prostate,  etc., 
resulting  in  ejaculatio  precox,  also  cause  abstinence. 
If  as  a  result  of  sexual  irregularities,  tampering  with 
nature,  the  husband  or  wife  becomes  sick,  the  irregu- 
lar coitus  ceases  and  it  is  not  long  before  the  husband 
or  wife  or  both  look  for  gratification  elsewhere.  So 
also  if  sexual  relations  cease  because  of  the  already 
too  large  family.  Other  important  and  frequent 
causes  for  abstinence  in  the  married  are  the  too  com- 
mon dullness  and  apathy  and  indifference  which 
characterize  modern  marriage ;  most  married  women 
become  tawdry  and  careless  housekeepers  and  their 
husbands  mere  wage-earners.  Of  real  sympathy  be- 
tween husband  and  wife,  our  marriage  system  knows 
only  exceptional  instances.  Quarreling  and  bicker- 


92  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

ing  are  only  too  common.  If  there  weren't  so  many 
obstacles  to  divorce  it  would  be  the  rule.  It  is  a  sad 
truth  that  in  modern  society  marriage  means  the 
death  of  love,  and  with  it  sexual  gratification  is  even 
more  impossible  than  it  was  before  marriage.  With- 
out sexual  love,  spiritual  love  between  man  and  wife 
is  impossible.  Thus  marriage,  modern  marriage,  is 
a  chief  cause  of  sexual  abstinence,  of  serious  psychic 
conflicts,  and  of  functional  and  organic  diseases.  And 
from  this  point  of  view,  even  if  from  no  other,  mod- 
ern marriage  is  a  failure. 

Abstinence  in  the  Climacterium. — The  general  be- 
lief entertained  even  by  physicians  that  the  climac- 
terium  in  women  and  the  senium  in  men  are  char- 
acterized by  the  extinction  of  the  libido  is  utterly 
untrue.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  occurrence  of  these 
periods  coincides  in  almost  all  individuals  with  a 
sudden  and  intense  augmentation  of  somatic  sexual 
excitement.  Why  this  should  be  so  is  not  known,  but 
it  seems  to  be  dependent  upon  a  disturbance  in  the 
chemistry  of  the  hormones.  In  elderly  men  we  may 
frequently  find  a  diminished  potency  with  a  great 
increase  in  somatic  sexual  excitement,  and  as  a  result 
of  this  disproportion  there  is  a  failure  on  the  part 
of  the  psyche  to  consume  the  sexual  excitement  and 
thus  again  there  results  sexual  abstinence.  In  women 
the  involution  of  the  reproductive  organs  is  usually 
accompanied  with  such  an  immense  increase  in  the 
libido  that  they  are  disgusted  at  it,  and  in  conse- 
quence they  refrain  from  sexual  indulgence  or  are 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  93 

incapable  of  psychically  consuming  the  augmented 
excitement.  In  this  way  it  becomes  a  comparatively 
simple  matter  to  account  for  many  "nervous"  dis- 
turbances occurring  in  elderly  people. 

Manifestations  of  Abstinence. — Many  persons, 
medically  trained  and  otherwise,  actuated  by  re- 
ligious and  moral  motives,  assert  that  sexual  ab- 
stinence is  not  injurious  to  health.  But  religion  and 
morals  have  no  place  in  a  scientific  discussion  of  a 
medical  problem.  In  their  discussions  the  advocates 
of  abstinence  point  out  cases  in  which  abstinence — 
by  which  they  mean  refraining  from  sexual  inter- 
course with  a  person  of  the  opposite  sex — was  not 
followed  by  disease.  But  this  argument  proves 
nothing,  no  more  than  the  fact  that  not  every 
one  who  has  the  Klebs-Loeffler  bacilli  in  his  throat 
develops  diphtheria  proves  that  this  germ  is  not  the 
true  cause  of  diphtheria.  Others  emphatically  assert 
that  they  never  saw  evil  results  follow  abstinence. 
But  this  only  shows  that  their  observations  were 
very  limited,  or  that  their  powers  of  observation  are 
limited,  or  that  they  mean  something  else  by  absti- 
nence than  we  do,  or  that  they  willfully  close  their 
eyes  to  the  truth.  Similarly  the  argument  that  some 
persons  have  been  abstinent  without  developing  or- 
ganic disease  or  neuroses  does  not  prove  that  ab- 
stinence is  not  injurious  to  most  persons.  It  all 
depends  upon  the  individual's  psychosexual  consti- 
tution, the  quantity  and  quality  of  one's  libido,  etc. 
Besides,  many  persons  never  tell  the  truth  about 


94  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

their  sexual  transgressions  and  others  are  guilty 
of  sexual  activities  without  being  aware  that  they 
are  so.  It  may  be  of  some  interest  to  enumerate 
the  great  variety  of  opinions  entertained  on  this  sub- 
ject by  modern  writers.  (1)  There  are  those  who 
claim  that  abstinence  is  harmless  (Cramer,  Finkler, 
Gaertner,  Gruber,  Gruetzner,  Hoche,  Kraepelin, 
Lassar,  Orbow,  Schottelius,  Seifert,  Selenew,  Tuczek, 
etc.) ;  (2)  that  it  is  harmful  in  some  cases  (Gruber, 
Juergensen,  Hensen,  etc.) ;  (3)  that  though  it  is 
harmless,  normal  intercourse  is  preferable  (Strum- 
pell)  ;  (4)  that  it  leads  to  masturbation  but  is  prefer- 
able to  venereal  disease  (Hoffmann) ;  (5)  that  it 
prevents  venereal  disease  (Striimpell,  Hoffmann) ; 
(6)  that  it  is  harmless  up  to  the  age  of  30,  but  that 
after  that  it  tends  to  produce  psychic  anomalies 
(Rumpf,  Leyden) ;  (7)  that  it  leads  to  masturbation 
and  hysteria  in  some  cases  (Heim) ;  (8)  that  it  is 
incompatible  with  health  (Ellis) ;  (9)  that  it  leads 
to  unnatural  practices  (Nescheda) ;  (10)  that  it  im- 
proves the  will-power  (Weber) ;  (11)  that  it  is  good 
up  to  the  age  of  25  (Tarnowsky,  Tschick) ;  (12)  that 
it  is  harmless  up  to  25  (Orbow) ;  (13)  that  it  is 
beneficial  at  all  ages  and  conserves  the  individual's 
energies  (Popow) ;  (14)  that  it  is  neither  normal 
nor  beneficial  and  as  a  rule  leads  to  masturbation 
(Blumenau) ;  (15)  that  it  is  harmful  after  20  and 
may  cause  serious  disturbances  besides  impairing 
one's  capacity  for  work  (Erb),  etc. 
This  great  variety  of  opinion  shows  only  that  the 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  95 

methods  of  observation  hitherto  employed  were  un- 
suited  to  the  study  of  the  problem.  A  careful  read- 
ing of  the  writings  of  former  sexologists,  neurolo- 
gists, etc.,  shows  that  the  respective  writers  knew  so 
little  of  the  sexual  instincts  in  comparison  with  what 
we  know  to-day  that  their  conclusions  are  utterly 
worthless.  Without  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
Freudian  technique  and  the  psychoanalytic  study 
of  "nervous"  patients  no  one  can  ascertain  the  truth 
about  the  vita  sexualis  of  modern  cultured  human 
beings.  Such  a  study  of  neurotic  patients  of  all 
sorts  has  convinced  Freud  and  his  school  that  "the 
overcoming  through  sublimation,  i.  e.,  deflection  of 
the  sexual  energies  from  sexual  aims  to  higher  cul- 
tural aims,  succeeds  only  in  the  minority  and  even  in 
them  only  temporarily,  and  least  easily  in  the  period 
of  fiery  youth.  Most  of  the  others  become  neurotic 
or  come  to  grief  in  other  ways"  (Freud,  Sammlung, 
II,  p.  186).  Freud  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  subduing  of  so  powerful  an  instinct  as  the  sexual 
requires  so  much  of  an  individual's  energies  that 
beyond  the  age  of  20  it  is  no  longer  unobjectionable 
and  leads  to  neuroses  besides  other  ills.  Nature 
punishes  every  attempt  to  thwart  the  sex  instinct. 
Health  is  impossible  without  love. 

All  clinical  experience  goes  to  show  that  the  vast 
majority  of  civilized  human  beings  are  so  constituted 
that  if  they  live  sexually  abstinent  for  a  considerable 
period  of  time,  which  period  varies  with  different 
individuals  according  to  their  psychosexual  constitu- 


96  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

tion,  predisposition  to  neuroses,  physical  constitu- 
tion, environment,  infantile  and  later  experiences, 
education,  morals,  etc., — they  inevitably  and  neces- 
sarily suffer  from  a  large  variety  of  symptoms. 
Among  these  are  an  impaired  capacity  for  work, 
depression;  lassitude;  a  falling  away  from  friends; 
a  feeling  of  indifference  about  one's  clothes,  appear- 
ance, work,  food,  and  social  duties;  a  lack  of  joy  in 
life;  sleeplessness;  weakness  of  will;  loss  of  ambi- 
tion; dreaminess  and  listlessness ;  distressing 
dreams;  obstinate  constipation;  attacks  of  palpita- 
tion; frequent  headaches,  etc.  Students  are  con- 
scious of  an  impairment  of  memory,  an  inability  to 
concentrate  their  attention  upon  their  studies;  they 
fall  behind  in  their  work  and  fear  that  they  are 
doomed  to  failure  in  life  and  to  prove  a  disappoint- 
ment to  their  relatives.  And  thus  many  do  indeed 
waste  the  best  years  of  their  youth.  The  suppressed 
sexual  energies  strive  to  be  let  loose,  to  find  a  vent. 
Erotic  thoughts  and  fantasies  permeate  almost  all 
of  the  abstinents'  activities  and  disturb  their  sleep 
at  night  and  interfere  with  their  work  by  day.  The 
occurrence  of  pains  in  the  testicles  and  in  the  cord, 
a  feeling  of  weight  and  heaviness  in  the  prostate,  an 
occasional  "wet  dream,"  or  a  slight  seminal  flow 
from  the  urethra  during  defecation,  etc.,  cause  them 
a  great  deal  of  worry  which  at  times  leads  to  a  state 
almost  identical  with  melancholia.  Not  infrequently 
there  occur  all  sorts  of  indefinite  pains  in  the  back, 
in  the  limbs,  in  the  head,  etc.  Many  suffer  from 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  97 

sparks  before  their  eyes,  trembling  of  the  hands, 
stammering,  a  slowness  in  recollecting  customary 
and  familiar  phrases,  an  inability  to  speak  con- 
nectedly, and  so  forth.  The  married  and  those  who 
have  once  been  married  are  especially  unable  to 
endure  abstinence.  Once  the  sexual  appetite  has 
been  gratified,  it  craves  for  more  and  so  insistently 
that  it  requires  all  one's  energies  to  resist  it. 

The  general  opinion  that  girls  and  women  can 
endure  abstinence  better  than  men  is  entirely  un- 
founded in  fact.  On  the  contrary  owing  to  numer- 
ous causes, — the  occurrence  of  the  menses  and  con- 
sequent congestion  of  the  sexual  organs,  their 
sentimentality,  their  suggestibility,  modern  styles 
of  dressing,  the  perusal  of  romantic  literature,  par- 
ticipation in  public  dances,  etc., — women  are  less 
able  to  endure  abstinence.  Women  live  essentially 
for  love,  and  love  is  sexuality.  In  mild  cases  girls 
are  moody,  flighty,  sentimental,  and  inclined  to 
mysticism.  Later  there  occur  irritability,  exagger- 
ated emotionalism,  blushing  on  the  slightest  provo- 
cation, flushing  up  when  addressed  by  a  man,  con- 
fusion, timidity,  stammering  and  a  feeling  of 
weakness  when  spoken  to  by  a  man,  a  fear  of 
blushing,  etc.  Erotic  fantasies  color  all  their  activ- 
ities and  give  rise  to  a  feeling  of  guiltiness  and 
unworthiness.  Suicidal  ideas  and  impulses,  as  also 
the  fear  of  insanity,  are  not  at  all  uncommon. 

The  familiar  portrayal  of  the  "old  maid"  as  pale, 
haggard,  surly,  moody,  capricious,  irritable,  excit- 


98  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

able,  unsatisfied,  discontented,  and  ' '  cranky, ' '  is  too 
frequently  not  an  exaggeration  of  the  truth.  That 
these  manifestations  and  many,  many  more  are  due 
to  abstinence  is  proved  by  the  change  that  comes 
over  her  when  she  is  happily  married.  The  woman 
whose  libido  is  gratified  is  bright,  lively  and  happy; 
her  eyes  are  animated,  her  step  elastic,  her  voice 
sweet,  her  disposition  amiable  and  cheerful;  she 
has  no  aches  and  no  pains ;  love  dwells  in  her  bosom 
and  she  radiates  happiness  on  all  who  come  under 
her  influence.  Her  sister  who  does  not  obtain  sexual 
gratification  is  anything  from  a  confirmed  invalid 
to  a  veritable  Xanthippe. 

Organic  Disorders  Resulting  from  Abstinence. — • 
It  has  been  very  often  denied  that  organic  disorders 
may  be  dependent  upon  sexual  abstinence ;  but  there 
is  absolutely  no  reason  for  rejecting  the  assertion 
of  careful  clinicians  that  a  large  number  of  ailments 
result  directly  from  abstinence.  Chief  among  these 
we  may  mention  congestion  of  the  testes,  the  so- 
called  " painful  testicle,"  testicular  neuralgia,  pros- 
tatic  congestion,  congestion  of  the  seminal  vesicles, 
orchitis,  epididymitis,  and  even  atrophy  of  the  testes. 
In  women  we  may  safely  attribute  to  sexual  absti- 
nence the  occurrence  of  the  following  conditions: 
anemia,  loss  of  flesh,  congestion  of  the  ovaries, 
ovarian  neuralgia,  leucorrhoea,  dysmenorrhoea, 
amenorrhoea,  menorrhagia,  metrorrhagia,  endo- 
metritis,  perimetritis,  and  a  condition  of  thyroidism. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  99 

The  discussion  of  the  pathogeny  of  these  conditions 
is  outside  the  scope  of  this  essay. 

Benefits  Resulting  from  Voluntary  Total  Absti- 
nence in  Adolescents. — Inasmuch  as  moralists  and 
educators  are  so  persistently  advocating  total  ab- 
stinence in  unmarried  adolescents  in  the  face  of 
the  constantly  accumulating  evidence  of  the  injuri- 
ousness  of  such  abstinence  it  is  not  alien  to  our 
purpose  to  at  least  enumerate  the  benefits  accruing 
to  the  individual  from  a  purposive  refraining  from 
sexual  activities  of  every  kind.  All  observers  are 
agreed  that  up  to  a  certain  age,  say,  about  20  years, 
the  exertion  of  the  will  in  subduing  erotic  desires 
tends  to  steel  the  individual's  character  and  to 
strengthen  his  will-power ;  it  teaches  one  to  forbear 
and  renounce  the  gratification  of  the  senses,  it  im- 
presses one  with  the  conviction  that  life  has  nobler 
purposes  and  more  exquisite  pleasures  than  the  gra- 
tification of  the  flesh;  it  directs  the  individual's 
energies  into  other,  more  useful  and  acceptable, 
channels,  e.  g.,  education,  religion,  athletics,  etc. ;  it 
teaches  the  value  of  perseverance;  it  keeps  its 
votaries  single  till  they  are  fit  to  enter  upon  mar- 
riage; it  secures  to  the  individual  that  happiness 
which  emanates  from  self-approbation,  and — most 
important  of  all — it  prevents  venereal  infection.  In 
the  propaganda  of  modern  reformers  chief  stress  is 
laid  upon  the  dangers  of  contracting  gonorrhea, 
chancroid  and  syphilis,  and  of  becoming  afflicted 
with  all  their  possible  complications  and  sequelae. 


100  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

In  other  words,  the  attempt  is  made  to  frighten 
young  men  and  women  into  a  life  of  abstinence.  But 
the  propagandists  close  their  eyes  to  the  following 
facts:  abstinence  is  not  chastity;  that  notwithstand- 
ing all  their  best  efforts,  some  persons  cannot  be 
abstinent ;  the  ill-effects  of  spending  a  large  part  or 
almost  all  of  one's  energies  in  the  struggle  against 
the  sexual  appetite  outweigh  the  benefits ;  that  fright 
is  extremely  liable  to  precipitate  the  individual  into 
neurosis ;  that  the  individual  and  society  suffer  more 
from  abstinence  than  they  gain;  that  venereal  in- 
fection does  not  necessarily  result  from  non-marital 
sexual  indulgence;  that  the  venereal  diseases  can 
be  stamped  out  and  are  going  to  be  robbed  of  their 
terrors  by  specific  remedies,  and  furthermore,  that 
it  is  far  more  preferable  to  take  one's  chances  with 
venereal  infection  than  with  total  abstinence.  The 
ill-effects  of  abstinence  are  far  greater  than  those 
following  venereal  disease.  And,  if  the  truth  must 
be  told  bluntly,  not  one  individual  in  a  hundred  is 
wholly  abstinent  for  any  considerable  time  after 
puberty. 

The  sequelae  of  sexual  abstinence  as  we  have 
defined  it  are  so  numerous  that  it  is  impossible  to 
do  more  than  sketch  them  in  the  most  meager  out- 
lines in  these  few  pages,  notwithstanding  their  tre- 
mendous importance  to  the  individual,  to  society  and 
to  civilization.  The  most  important  pathological  and 
psychological  conditions  predisposed  to  and  result- 
ing directly  or  indirectly  from  sexual  abstinence  are 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  101 

the  following:  masturbation,  pollutions,  sperma- 
torrhoea, impotence,  frigidity,  homosexuality,  per- 
versions, true  neurasthenia,  apprehension  neurosis, 
conversion  hysteria,  apprehension  hysteria,  phobias, 
compulsions,  hypochondria,  criminality,  kleptomania, 
pyromania,  melancholia,  paranoia,  dementia  precox, 
etc. 

Onanism. — The  most  frequent,  the  most  serious, 
and  the  almost  inevitable  result  of  the  attempt  to 
live  sexually  abstinent  after  puberty  is  Onanism. 
By  this  we  mean  any  form  of  sexual  activity  other 
than  normal  coitus  between  two  persons  of  opposite 
sexes ;  but  in  a  more  restricted  sense  onanism  means 
the  obtainment  of  sexual  gratification  by  the  manipu- 
lation of  one's  genitals.  In  consequence  of  the  sex- 
ual hyperesthesia  resulting  from  sexual  abstinence 
there  occur  frequent  erections,  congestion  and  titilla- 
tion  of  the  genitals  which  indirectly  lead  the  indi- 
vidual to  touch  his  genitals  or  to  squeeze  them  be- 
tween his  thighs;  from  this  to  masturbation  is  an 
easy  step.  Coitus  interruptus,  coitus  condomatus, 
etc.,  perversions,  homosexual  practices,  prolongation 
of  the  forepleasures,  etc.,  are  in  most  instances  only 
forms  of  onanism.  Some  form  of  sexual  activity 
other  than  normal  coitus  is  so  universally  practiced 
at  certain  periods  that  it  may  almost  be  said  that 
onanism  is  a  normal  physiologic  process.  There  is 
probably  not  one  normal  individual  in  a  hundred 
who  has  not  masturbated  at  some  time  of  his  life, 
especially  in  infancy,  childhood  and  early  adoles- 


102  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

cence ;  but  onanism  is  not  at  all  rare  at  any  period 
of  life,  in  the  single  and  in  the  married.  Because  of 
physical  and  psychological  reasons  masturbation  is 
more  easily  and  more  commonly  practiced  among 
females  than  among  males.  In  infancy  onanism  is 
physiological  and  is  the  expression  of  the  normal 
autoerotism ;  in  the  sexual  latency  period  masturba- 
tion is  not  as  frequent  and  is  indulged  in  probably 
as  a  result  of  instruction,  seduction  or  a  congenitally 
excessive  sexual  appetite  and  a  diminished  capacity 
for  sublimation.  After  puberty  it  is  the  natural 
substitute  for  normal  gratification  in  persons  who 
for  various  reasons  cannot  obtain  the  latter ;  in  the 
married  it  results  from  the  failure  of  coitus  to  gratify 
the  libido.  Whenever  the  individual  fails  to  find  in 
his  environment  the  means  of  gratifying  the  libido, 
the  libido  is  introverted  and  the  individual  resorts  to 
that  means  of  sexual  gratification  which  was  char- 
acteristic of  him  in  his  infancy;  for  the  time  being 
he  reverts  to  the  infantile  autoerotism. 

But  masturbation  is  only  a  poor  and  inadequate 
substitute  for  normal  coitus.  As  a  compromise  be- 
tween the  normal,  healthy  gratification  of  the  hetero- 
sexual love  instinct  and  the  desire  to  comply  with 
the  dictates  of  our  morality  and  religious  teachings, 
it  is  dangerous  and  unsatisfactory.  Owing  to  the 
absence  of  the  requisite  forepleasure  and  the  satis- 
faction of  the  human  craving  for  love,  masturbation 
really  gratifies  only  one  of  the  partial  sex-com- 
ponents and  there  is  no  adequate  discharge  of  the 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  103 

libido  or  accumulated  sexual  tension.  As  a  result  of 
this  the  individual  suffers  from  a  chronic  toxemia 
which  demands  a  frequent  repetition  of  the  mas- 
turbatory  activities.  The  secrecy,  the  feeling  of 
humiliation,  and  the  guiltiness  with  which  these  acts 
are  carried  out  seriously  impair  the  onanist  's  psyche 
and  his  character.  His  health  suffers  because  of  the 
excessive  drain  on  his  nervous  energies.  But  the 
greatest  danger  of  prolonged  masturbation  lies  in 
the  great  probability  of  the  fixation  of  the  fantasies, 
conscious  or  unconscious,  usually  of  an  incestuous 
nature,  which  accompany  the  auto-erotic  acts.  In 
this  way  there  may  result  a  fixation  of  the  infantile 
sexual  aims  or  a  persistence  of  psychic  infantilism 
which  constitute  the  chief  predisposing  factors  for 
the  subsequent  development  of  a  grave  neurosis. 

The  habitual  masturbator  is  always  conscious  of 
wrong-doing,  fears  detection,  is  aware  of  the  in- 
jurious after-effects  (depression,  headache,  lassi- 
tude, loss  of  appetite,  etc.)  of  his  " sinful"  acts,  and 
apprehends  permanent  injury  to  his  nervous  system. 
He  becomes  seclusive,  reserved,  shy,  timid,  sus- 
picious, distrustful, — in  other  words,  asocial.  Bad 
cases  resemble  mild  cases  of  paranoia.  But  it  is 
also  true  that  if  the  individual  can  react  sufficiently, 
he  may  develop  traits  of  a  very  admirable  character, 
and  be  distinguished  for  veracity,  frankness,  sin- 
cerity, honesty,  modesty,  ambition,  idealism,  moder- 
ation, etc. 

Pollutions. — Nocturnal  seminal  emissions  are  such 


104  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

frequent  occurrences  in  persons  living  in  sexual  ab- 
stinence for  any  considerable  period,  and  in  those 
whose  libido  is  not  properly  gratified,  that  many 
regard  them  as  nature's  method  of  relieving  the 
tension  in  the  genital  glands,  preventing  auto-intox- 
ication and  diverting  the  mind  from  the  sexual.  If 
this  were  entirely  true,  nocturnal  pollutions  might  be 
regarded  as  a  sort  of  safety  valve  for  the  individual's 
sexuality.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  pollutions  are 
no  more  a  desirable  or  normal  physiological  vent  for 
sexual  substance  than  nocturnal  enuresis  is  a  nor- 
mal relief  for  distention  of  the  bladder.  And,  in 
truth,  a  pollution  is  not  a  manifestation  of  chastity 
or  sexual  purity,  for  it  is  invariably  only  the  orgasm 
of  a  sexual  experience  in  a  dream  (even  though  the 
dream  be  only  latently  sexual).  Pollutions  are  of 
great  pathogenic  significance  in  the  production  of 
functional  neuroses  because  of  the  organic  after- 
effects (headache,  depression,  fatigue,  etc.),  the  hu- 
miliation at  the  sexual  nature  of  the  dreams,  the 
shame  of  leaving  traces  on  the  bedding  and  under- 
wear, the  turning  of  the  mind  to  sexual  themes,  the 
fear  of  the  loss  of  one's  " manhood,"  and,  if  fre- 
quently repeated,  the  exhaustion  of  the  nervous 
energies.  Pollutions  do  not  gratify  the  individual, 
either  male  or  female,  and  involve  him  in  psychic 
conflicts  akin  to  those  with  which  the  masturbator 
has  to  contend.  But  if  the  pollutions  are  not  too 
frequently  repeated  and  the  victims'  minds  are  re- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  105 

lieved  from  worry  concerning  them,  they  are  robbed 
of  their  terrors  and  prove  quite  harmless. 

Enuresis  Nocturna. — From  what  we  have  learned 
from  patients  suffering  from  nervousness  and  also 
from  healthy  persons  who  have  subjected  themselves 
to  a  psychoanalysis,  we  can  confidently  assert  that 
in  every  instance  where  no  organic  disease  of  the 
urinary  apparatus  exists,  bed-wetting,  beyond  the 
age  of  three  years,  in  males  as  in  females,  is  the 
physiologic  and  psychologic  equivalent  of  a  pollu- 
tion. The  enuresis  represents  the  orgasm  of  a  sexual 
dream  and  occurs  chiefly,  if  not  exclusively,  in  the 
sexually  abstinent.  The  individual,  failing  to  obtain 
adequate  sexual  gratification  from  his  environment, 
finds  a  substitute  by  unconscious  regression  to  a 
form  of  infantile  auto-erotism.  As  may  readily  be 
inferred,  its  frequent  repetition,  especially  in  child- 
hood and  adolescence,  and  the  dreams  accompanying 
it  may  easily  involve  the  sufferer  in  conflicts  pre- 
disposing him  to  and  involving  him  in  a  psycho- 
neurosis. 

Diurnal  enuresis  and  frequent  urination,  in  the 
absence  of  organic  lesions,  have  the  same  auto-erotic 
significance  as  nocturnal  enuresis.  The  attempt  to 
cure  a  so-called  "weak  bladder"  by  advising  the 
sufferer  to  pass  his  urine  in  driblets,  as  advocated 
by  many,  will  invariably  convert  the  patient  into  a 
masturbator  and  not  infrequently  into  a  urethral 
erotist. 

Spermatorrhea. — The  diurnal  emission  of  semen 


106  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

upon  the  slightest  provocation,  e.  g.,  riding  in  a 
train,  looking  at  representations  of  the  nude,  read- 
ing suggestive  literature,  handling  garments  or  ar- 
ticles belonging  to  a  person  of  the  opposite  sex  (or 
the  same  sex,  in  homosexuals),  passing  through  an 
art  gallery,  sitting  at  stool,  urinating,  riding  horse- 
back, speaking  to,  seeing  or  kissing  a  person  of  the 
opposite  sex,  etc.,  are  not  at  all  uncommon  manifesta- 
tions of  the  sexual  hyperesthesia  resulting  from  the 
attempt  to  be  sexually  abstinent,  to  comply  with  the 
approved  morality  of  society  as  at  present  organized. 
The  frequent  recurrence  of  such  involuntary  emis- 
sions causes  the  victims  a  great  deal  of  worry  con- 
cerning their  health  and  future  sexual  vigor,  besides 
worrying  them  about  their  chastity.  The  depression 
resulting  from  nocturnal  and  diurnal  pollutions  can 
be  appreciated  only  by  a  psychoanalyst  or  sexologist. 
Satyriasis  and  Nymphomania. — Prolonged  ab- 
stinence in  a  person  endowed  by  nature  with  a  high 
degree  of  sexuality  not  rarely  results  in  a  condition 
resembling  a  true  satyriac  mania.  Every  act  and 
thought  is  colored  by  erotic  fantasies.  The  patient 
is  so  hypersensitive  sexually  that  every  slightest 
thing  or  occurrence  that  stands  in  direct  or  indirect 
(symbolic)  relationship  to  the  sexual  gives  rise  to 
erections  with  or  without  emissions,  or  to  pleasur- 
able sensations  in  the  genital  organs.  Speaking 
to  a  person  of  the  opposite  sex  (or  of  the  same  sex, 
in  homosexuals)  excites  the  individual  to  such  an 
extent  that  his  heart  palpitates,  he  trembles,  blushes, 


SEXUAL  TEUTHS  107 

gets  dizzy,  is  confused,  feels  hot  and  cold  in  turns, 
and  so  forth.  In  the  analysis  of  these  cases,  the 
masochistic  and  perverse  instincts  will  be  found  to 
play  very  prominent  roles. 

Day-dreaming. — The  indulgence  in  day-dreams  is 
a  prominent  characteristic  of  those  who  do  not  obtain 
sexual  gratification  in  the  world  of  reality.  The 
fantasies,  which  may  be  unconscious,  represent  the 
abstainer 's  refuge  from  his  discontent  into  the  world 
of  dreams  where  he  may  fulfill  his  secret  wishes  to 
his  heart's  content,  without  molestati'on  or  fear. 
These  wishes  are  invariably  of  an  erotic  or  ambitious 
kind,  and  even  behind  the  latter  the  erotic  can  easily 
be  recognized.  In  all  such  day-fantasies  the  sadistic, 
masochistic,  incestuous  and  perverse  sex-components 
can  easily  be  discovered.  In  reality,  every  day- 
dream is  a  kind  of  psychic  masturbation  and  brings 
the  individual  nearer  to  a  psychoneurosis. 

Homosexuality. — As  a  result  of  the  natural  bi- 
sexual constitution  of  man,  we  are  all  homosexual 
to  a  certain  extent,  though  in  the  course  of  the  in- 
dividual's evolution  to  maturity  the  homosexual 
component  is  repressed  and  sublimated.  But  if  after 
puberty,  the  danger  period  for  the  normal  evolution 
of  the  sexual  instinct  in  our  adolescent  boys  and 
girls,  the  heterosexual  love  instinct  is  not  or  cannot 
be  gratified  and  must  be  suppressed,  the  main  stream 
of  the  libido  is  blocked  and  dammed  back  into  the 
homosexual  tributary.  Passionate  friendships  be- 
tween persons  of  the  same  sex  are  really  manifesta- 


108  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

tions  of  homosexuality.  As  a  compromise  between 
the  homo-  and  hetero-sexual  impulses  within  the 
psyche,  the  abstainer  resorts  to  masturbation,  and 
inasmuch  as  this  is  really  a  return  to  a  form  of 
//  infantile  erotism,  the  earliest  form  of  sexual  grati- 
fication, there  is  great  danger  of  the  reawakening 
and  revivification  of  the  repressed  incest  complex. 
How  readily  and  frequently  and  naturally  homo- 
sexuality is  practiced  where  normal  coitus  is  inter- 
fered with  for  any  reason  (inaccessibility  of  the 
hetero-sexual  love  object,  lack  of  love  between  hus- 
band and  wife,  the  dangers  of  hetero-sexual  inter- 
course, etc.)  is  manifest  from  what  we  know  con- 
cerning the  doings  among  soldiers  in  barracks, 
sailors  on  board  ship  on  long  cruises,  prisoners  in 
jail,  boys  and  girls  in  boarding  schools,  etc.  The 
sexual  aim  in  these  cases  is  mutual  masturbation, 
intercourse  per  anum,  or  a  mere  effusion  of  love. 
Under  favorable  conditions  most  of  these  fortunate- 
ly return  to  normal  hetero-sexuality.  But  if  for 
any  reason  this  reawakened  homo-sexuality  lasts  for 
a  considerable  length  of  time,  there  is  great  danger 
of  the  psychic  fixation  of  the  inversion  and  subse- 
quent hetero-sexual  impotence  as  well  as  a  predis- 
position to  a  psychoneurosis,  alcoholism,  criminality 
and  paranoia. 

Perversions. — Psychoanalytic  investigations  have 
proved  that  all  human  beings  are  by  nature  poly- 
morph-perverse,  i.  e.,  they  have  within  them  the 
capacity  and  the  inclination  to  obtain  sexual  grati- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  109 

fication  by  perverse  practices,  e.  g.,  narcism,  sadism, 
masochism,  exhibitionism,  voyeurism,  pederasty,  fel- 
latorism,  etc.  It  is  true  that  in  the  course  of  evolu- 
tion from  the  pansexualism  of  infancy  to  the  so- 
called  normal  hetero-sexuality  of  adults  these  per- 
verse elements  or  components  of  the  sex-instinct 
are  repressed;  but  this  repression  is  not  complete, 
for  rudiments  or  traces  of  these  perversions  are 
constituents  of  the  normal  sexual  aim,  i.  e.,  are 
manifested  during  the  preceding  coitus,  e.  g.,  kissing, 
looking,  hugging,  touching,  stroking,  biting,  pinch- 
ing, etc.  In  general  these  actions  are  not  regarded 
as  sexual  acts.  Now,  if  a  person  (be  he  single  or 
married)  endowed  with  a  strong  sexual  instinct,  or 
(and)  one  whose  sexuality  did  not  undergo  a  normal 
evolution  because  of  infantile  and  childhood  psycho- 
sexual  traumata,  cannot  gratify  the  cravings  of  his 
sexual  instinct  after  reaching  maturity,  the  further 
normal  development  of  his  sexuality  is  interfered 
with,  the  primacy  of  the  genital  zone  is  prevented 
from  being  established,  the  libido  is  withdrawn  from 
the  outer  world  (i.  e.,  is  introverted)  and  driven  back 
into  any  one  of  the  subsidiary  branches  of  the 
libidinous  stream.  In  this  way  any  one  of  the  sexual 
instincts  or  partial  impulses  may  assume  dominance. 
The  repressed  energy  then  finds  expression  either  as 
a  perversion  or  in  the  symptoms  of  a  psychoneurosis. 
The  frequency  of  perverse  practices  among  abstain- 
ers is  notorious,  but  it  is  not  so  generally  known  that 
in  a  large  number  of  cases  a  boasted  abstinence  is 


110  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

only  a  mask  to  conceal  a  perversion.  The  dangers 
of  a  fixation  of  a  perversion  ought  to  be  obvious. 

Bestiality,  etc. — Without  going  into  details,  we  may 
say  that  the  not  infrequent  resort  of  human  beings 
to  sexual  relations  with  animals  is  no  more  a  sign  of 
degeneracy  or  insanity  than  perverse  or  homosexual 
practices,  and  that  the  cause  of  this  degrading  vice 
is  to  be  found  in  infantile  sexual  traumata  and  the 
difficulties  that  our  modern  marriage  system  inter- 
poses between  the  individual  and  the  gratification  of 
the  normal  instinct.  So,  too,  if  the  normal  sexual  ob- 
ject is  inaccessible  or  the  realization  of  the  normal 
sexual  aim  is  for  any  reason  deferred  too  long, 
fetichism — the  substitution  for  the  normal  sexual  ob- 
ject (a  person  of  the  opposite  sex)  of  some  other  ob- 
ject (a  part  of  the  body  or  an  article  of  clothing,  etc.) 
related  to  it  but  totally  unsuited  for  normal  coitus — 
may  result  and  become  permanently  fixed  in  the  in- 
dividual's psyche.  Assaults  on  children,  as  is  well 
known,  are  frequently  perpetrated  by  teachers  and 
domestics,  and  are  due  solely  to  sexual  abstinence. 
Incestuous  practices  between  parents  and  children 
are  almost  invariably  due  to  marital  unhappiness  or 
to  psychic  or  other  hindrances  to  the  adult's  gratifi- 
cation of  his  or  her  sexual  aim. 

Criminality. — As  we  have  seen,  owing  to  the 
numerous  and  often  insurmountable  obstacles  to  the 
gratification  of  the  overpowering  sexual  impulses 
in  adolescents  and  adults,  especially  in  the  former, 
the  individual  is  put  to  the  extremely  difficult  task 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  111 

of  sublimating  his  wishes  and  instincts  or  of  sup- 
pressing and  repressing  them.  In  the  unconscious 
the  repressed  incest  complex,  inversion  and  per- 
version complexes,  become  charged,  as  it  were,  with 
the  newly  repressed  energies.  In  consequence  of 
this,  the  individual  feels  himself  dimly  impelled  to 
gratify  perverse  longings,  to  do  something  that  so- 
ciety and  morality  condemn  as  being  criminal,  i.  e., 
against  the  best  interests  of  the  species.  This  im- 
pulsion to  "do  wrong"  or  "go  wrong"  cannot  re- 
main repressed  forever  and  expresses  itself  either 
in  some  criminal  act  or  in  the  symptoms  of  a  psycho- 
neurosis.  That  environmental  conditions  and  educa- 
tion, etc.,  also  have  their  share  of  responsibility  in 
the  formation  of  a  "criminal"  is  not  denied.  But 
from  our  point  of  view,  criminality  is  very  frequently 
the  expression  of  a  neurosis,  of  an  impulsive  obses- 
sion to  wrong-doing.  As  Wulffen  puts  it:  "crimi- 
nality is  repressed  sexuality  and  an  equivalent  there- 
of." This  is  best  illustrated  in  pyromaniacs  and 
kleptomaniacs.  It  has  for  some  time  been  known  that 
kleptomania  (shop-lifting)  occurs  chiefly  in  strongly 
libidinous  women  whose  sexual  hunger  is  not  satis- 
fied and  who  haven't  the  courage  or  opportunity  for 
sexual  gratification.  In  all  cases  the  theft  is  the 
symbolic  performance  of  the  coveted  forbidden  act; 
they  have  substituted  one  wrong,  the  lesser,  for  an- 
other,— in  other  words,  the  affect  was  transferred 
from  the  sexual  to  the  criminal.  It  is  interesting  in 
this  connection  to  note  that  the  objects  stolen  stand 


112  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

in  symbolic  relationship  to  the  sexual,  e.  g.,  purses 
and  bags,  parasols,  umbrellas,  silk  handkerchiefs, 
etc.,  and  are  not  stolen  for  their  intrinsic  value. 
Pyromania  occurs  chiefly  in  adolescent  males,  and 
occasionally  the  offender  admits  having  had  an 
orgasm  at  the  sight  of  the  mounting  flames  and  the 
excitement.  The  symbolic  significance  of  fire 
(^passion)  in  the  minds  of  most  human  beings  fur- 
nishes the  explanation  for  the  obsessive  impulse  in 
the  abstinent.  What  share  the  toxemia  of  sexual 
abstinence  and  the  various  partial  impulses  play  in 
the  awakening  of  the  latent  tendency  to  criminality 
inherent  in  all  humanity  cannot  be  discussed  here. 

Alcoholism. — While  the  psychology  of  chronic  al- 
coholism (or  dipsomania)  is  not  yet  fully  understood, 
psychoanalytic  researches  warrant  the  conclusion 
that  notwithstanding  the  victim's  placing  of  the  re- 
sponsibility for  the  habit  on  social  usages,  family 
squabbles,  business  troubles,  etc.,  the  true  causes  lie 
in  the  unconscious.  In  other  words,  the  alcoholic 
habit,  like  criminality,  is  a  neurosis  resulting  from 
the  partial  failure  of  the  repression  and  sublimation 
of  certain  asocial  trends  or  desires.  Chief  among 
these  is  the  homo-sexual  component,  as  is  evident 
from  the  alcoholic's  dreams  and  delirious  fantasies, 
from  the  habit  of  drinkers  of  the  same  sex  to  con- 
gregate, from  the  vulgarity  or  smutty  jokes  indulged 
in  at  such  meetings,  from  the  drinkers'  passionate 
protestations  of  love  and  friendship  to  each  other, 
from  the  tendency  to  homosexual  practices  among 


SEXUAL  TEUTHS  113 

them,  from  their  not  infrequent  delusions  of  perse- 
cution, and,  by  the  mechanism  of  projection,  from 
their  characteristic  jealousy  of  their  marital  partner. 
In  most  of  these  cases  the  individual's  repressed 
homopsychic  component  was  reawakened  and  re- 
charged with  energy  as  a  result  of  the  impossibility 
of  gratifying  the  libido  by  normal  hetero-sexual 
object-love.  As  other  important  factors  in  the  yield- 
ing to  the  craving  for  spirituous  liquors,  we  may 
mention  the  unconscious  desire  to  gratify  the  sadis- 
tic and  masochistic  instincts,  the  desire  to  relieve  the 
psychic  tension  by  temporarily  blotting  out  the 
knowledge  of  his  affairs,  and,  finally,  the  gratifica- 
tion of  the  autoerotic  impulse.  The  significance  of 
auto-erotism  in  the  psychology  of  alcoholism  was 
very  interestingly  pointed  out  by  Juliusburger.  Akin 
to  the  satisfaction  derived  by  the  alcoholic  from  the 
erogenous  function  of  the  mouth  zone  is  the  pleasure 
of  the  inveterate  smoker,  chewer  and  candy-eater. 

Impotence. — The  most  frequent  and  most  danger- 
ous sequel  of  prolonged  continence  is  some  form  of 
partial  or  complete  sexual  impotence.  The  pro- 
longed suppression  of  the  most  powerful  " animal" 
instinct  necessarily  results  in  a  partial  atrophy  of 
the  genital  glands  by  reason  of  their  non-use  and  the 
absence  of  that  summation  of  sexual  stimuli  which  is 
essential  to  sexual  vigor.  Long-continued  voluntary 
abstinence  develops  in  the  individual  an  asceticism 
bordering  on  masochism  and  an  ever-increasing 
aversion  for  the  female  and  everything  suggestive 


114  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

of  sexuality  or  "bestiality,"  as  he  now  terms  it,  and 
thus  there  is  brought  about  a  gradual  and  progres- 
sive weakening  of  the  libido  which  may  go  on  to  the 
point  of  total  extinction  or  psychic  castration.  And 
thus  our  so-called  morality  and  a  religion  not 
adapted  to  the  natural  constitution  of  man  result  in 
a  quenching  of  the  sexual  desire,  in  other  words,  in 
a  fixation  of  abstinence.  Such  persons  have  lost  the 
capacity  for  love.  Even  those  who  have  not  gone  as 
far  as  this,  worry  so  much  about  the  manifest 
diminution  of  sexual  power  and  the  pollutions  and 
spermatorrhea  complicating  their  abstinence,  that 
there  is  a  further  impairment  of  the  libido  and  sex- 
ual vigor.  The  fear  of  impotence  resulting  from 
abstinence,  pollutions,  masturbations,  etc.,  is  not  in- 
frequently the  cause  of  partial  impotence  and  other 
symptoms  of  a  neurosis.  In  many  the  longing  for 
love  and  the  capacity  for  its  enjoyment  are  almost 
wholly  destroyed  by  the  fear  of  the  consequences  of 
heterosexual  coitus,  etc.,  venereal  disease,  progeny, 
etc.  But  the  greatest  peril  of  sexual  abstinence  is 
the  certainty  of  the  abstainer  resorting  to  masturba- 
tion with  conscious  or  unconscious  incestuous  fan- 
tasies. This  form  of  auto-erotism  is  so  convenient, 
so  pleasurable,  and  so  free  from  certain  dangers 
characteristic  of  a  normal  vita  sexualis  that  the  habit 
becomes  so  fixed  in  the  psyche  that  the  masturbator 
loses  his  ability  to  transfer  his  love  upon  a  person  of 
the  opposite  sex  and  finds  normal  coitus  only  a  poor 
and  unsatisfactory  substitute  for  masturbation.  The 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  115 

premature  emission  (ejaculatio  precox)  which  is  so 
characteristic  of  the  former  masturbator  expresses 
his  discontent  with  his  partner,  his  disappointment 
in  the  so-called  normal  heterosexual  love  as  com- 
pared with  the  delights  of  auto-erotism.  Thus  the 
chastity  of  adolescents  advocated  by  masochistic 
and  impotent  propagandists  is  the  worst  possible 
preparation  for  marriage,  and  if  a  disciple  of  such 
teachings  marries,  the  union  is  bound  to  be  an  un- 
satisfactory and  unhappy  one.  Sooner  or  later  at- 
tempts at  coitus  are  given  up  altogether  and  there- 
with the  prop  of  marriage  is  gone.  The  descensus 
Averni  need  not  be  pursued  further. 

Frigidity. — Much  of  what  we  have  said  in  the  for- 
mer paragraph  about  the  mechanism  and  psychology 
of  impotence  in  the  male  applies  literally  also  to 
frigidity  in  the  female  (dyspareunia) .  But  in  women 
the  results  of  the  concealment  from  them  and  sup- 
pression in  them  of  everything  pertaining  to  the 
sexual  and  the  prolonged  abstinence  imposed  upon 
them  are  much  more  damaging  and  lasting  than  in 
the  male.  Our  hypocritical  morality  does  not  wink 
at  illicit  and  purchased  pre-marital  coitus  in  the 
case  of  women.  A  girl  is  theoretically  brought  up 
so  as  not  even  to  know  the  existence  of  the  sexual 
impulse.  The  forces  of  disgust,  shame  and  morality 
are  so  over-developed  in  them  that  everything  per- 
taining to  the  sexual  is  regarded  by  them  as  animal, 
bestial,  vile,  disgusting.  Thus  it  frequently  happens 
that  a  normal,  healthy,  affectionate  girl  past  the 


116  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

age  of  puberty  finds  herself  involved  in  a  serious 
conflict  between  her  awakened  and  imperious  libido, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  various  inhibiting  forces 
on  the  other.  She  wages  a  conflict  that  is  too  much 
for  her  as  long  as  she  can  and  then — failure.  If  she 
does  not  fall — and  "when  a  woman  falls  she  falls 
on  her  back" — she  resorts  to  masturbation,  develops 
a  neurosis  or  a  psychosis,  or  commits  suicide.  As 
a  result  of  the  prolonged  auto-erotic  gratification 
with  conscious  or  unconscious  incestuous  fantasies 
— a  manifestation  of  the  regression  of  the  libido — 
there  ensues  an  inability  to  transfer  her  love  upon 
a  strange  male  and  she  is  partially  or  wholly  frigid. 
She  has  so  long  been  accustomed  to  obtaining  grati- 
fication from  the  titillation  of  the  clitoris  or  labia 
minora  (which  play  almost  no  part  in  coitus)  that 
the  titillation  of  the  vaginal  mucosa  by  the  penis  is 
ineffective  to  bring  about  the  discharge  of  the  libido. 
And  so  it  oftens  happens  that  a  woman  has  to  mas- 
turbate immediately  after  coitus  to  relieve  her  ex- 
cited tension.  In  consequence,  many  of  these  women 
worry  about  their  inability  to  gratify  their  husbands, 
about  being  sterile,  about  not  loving  their  husbands, 
about  their  disappointment  in  married  life,  about 
their  wickedness  and  sinfulness,  etc.  Without  sex- 
ual gratification  for  both  husband  and  wife,  domes- 
tic happiness  and  harmony  and  indulgence  in  each 
other's  shortcomings  are  impossible.  |  Marital  hap- 
piness is  frustrated  by  the  long  preparation  for  it. 
And  thus  the  woman's  fixation  in  abstinence  or  in 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  117 

auto-erotism  is  of  the  greatest  consequence  to  the 
individual  and  to  society.  In  some  women  the  idea 
of  sexual  pleasure  is  so  intimately  associated  with 
the  idea  of  a  forbidden  act  that  they  cannot  obtain 
gratification  from  approved  and  proper  marital 
coitus, — to  enjoy  the  act  they  must  do  something 
forbidden.  Thus  our  false  education  of  girls  pre- 
disposes to  adultery.  In  another  set  of  cases  the 
fear  of  pregnancy  and  of  venereal  diseases  brings 
about  a  temporary  psychic  impotence.  In  others 
the  husband  comes  so  short  of  the  ideal,  usually  the 
father  or  brother,  to  whom  the  woman's  love  is  un- 
consciously anchored,  that  she  cannot  identify  him 
with  the  object  of  her  unconscious  incest  fantasy  and 
consequently  cannot  transfer  her  love  upon  him  and 
is  frigid.  Psychic  perversion  and  inversion,  i.  e., 
fixation  in  some  stage  of  psychic  infantilism,  also 
unfit  a  woman  for  normal  heterosexual  love.  Partial 
or  total  impotence  in  the  husband  is  a  very  frequent 
cause  for  a  woman's  frigidity,  but  much  more  fre- 
quently the  wife  of  such  a  man  finds  herself  in  a 
terrible  conflict  between  propriety  and  unsatisfied 
longings ;  the  outcome  is  either  infidelity  or  neurosis. 
True  Neurasthenia. — Inasmuch  as  I  have  dwelt  at 
length  upon  True  Neurasthenia,  from  the  Freudian 
point  of  view,  elsewhere  (Critic  and  Guide,  July, 
1912),  I  shall  only  say  here  that  this  disease  follows 
invariably  in  the  wake  of  excessive  masturbation 
and  too  frequent  pollutions.  The  relationship  of 
sexual  abstinence  to  masturbation  and  pollutions  is 


118  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

evident  from  what  has  preceded.  The  classical 
symptoms  of  this  neurosis  are  pressure  on  top  of  the 
head,  sleeplessness,  spinal  irritation,  diminished 
power  of  attention,  diminished  capacity  for  work, 
impairment  of  the  memory,  increased  susceptibility 
to  fatigue,  emotional  irritability,  dyspepsia,  flatu- 
lence, constipation,  paresthesias,  depression  and 
diminished  sexual  potency.  The  pathogenesis  of  the 
disease  depends  upon  four  factors :  a  chronic  toxemia 
from  the  incomplete  elimination  and  metabolism  of 
certain  hormones  (thyroid,  prostatic,  testicular, 
ovarian,  etc.) ;  the  psychic  conflict  between  sexual 
desire,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  feelings  of  guilt, 
shame  and  remorse  which  accompany  the  masturba- 
tory  activities,  on  the  other;  the  excessive  output  of 
psychic  energy  demanded  by  masturbation  as  com- 
pared with  coitus,  and,  finally,  the  inadequate  re- 
lief of  sexual  tension  furnished  by  substitutes  for 
normal  coitus.  True  Neurasthenia  is  frequently  as- 
sociated with  Apprehension  Neurosis  and  consti- 
tutes an  excellent  soil  for  the  development  of  a 
Hysteria. 

Apprehension  Neurosis. — This  condition,  too,  I 
have  described  elsewhere  (Critic  and  Guide,  Dec. 
1911;  American  Medicine,  Dec.  1911)  and  shall  there- 
fore not  go  into  details  at  this  time.  It  is  one 
of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Freudian  school 
that  without  some  disturbance  in  the  vita  sexualis 
there  can  be  no  neurosis.  Every  such  disturbance, 
however,  implies  the  insufficient  and  inadequate 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  119 

elimination  of  the  accumulated  libido,  no  matter  how 
this  is  brought  about, — in  other  words,  non-gratifi- 
cation of  the  sexual  instinct  (sexual  abstinence)  is 
at  the  bottom  of  every  neurosis.  In  apprehension 
neurosis  the  physical  causes  of  inadequate  grati- 
fication predominate,  notably  the  abrupt  introduc- 
tion of  innocent  girls  and  newly  married  young  wom- 
en to  gross  sexual  experiences,  coitus  interruptus, 
coitus  reservatus,  coitus  condomatus,  ejaculatio  pre- 
cox,  the  ardent  futile  embraces  of  engaged  couples, 
widowhood,  a  disproportion  between  desire  and  po- 
tency (in  the  climacterium  of  women  and  senium 
of  men),  and  voluntary  sexual  abstinence  (especially 
after  a  long  career  of  masturbation).  Mental  fac- 
tors also  play  a  part  in  these  cases,  but  we  reserve 
their  consideration  for  the  section  on  the  Psycho- 
neuroses  where  they  play  the  leading  role.  In  con- 
sequence of  these  various  conditions  the  psycho- 
physiological  sexual  excitation  is  not  eliminated 
either  somatically  or  psychically  but  is  stowed  up  or 
accumulated;  being  diverted  from  the  normal  aim 
the  sexual  excitations  manifest  themselves  psychi- 
cally as  morbid  apprehensions  and  physically  as 
somatic  symptoms.  The  morbid  apprehension 
which  is  the  main  feature  of  the  disease  is 
a  derivative  of  the  repressed  sexuality  as  well 
as  a  reaction  against  it.  Apprehension  neu- 
rosis may  thus  be  said  to  be  the  result  of 
and  a  substitute  for  unsatisfied  love.  The  part 
played  in  the  pathogenesis  of  the  disease  by  the  dis- 


120  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

turbance  in  the  chemistry  of  the  libidogenous  sub- 
stance and  hormones  is  a  matter  for  future  investi- 
gation. So,  too,  the  exact  role  of  psychic  conflicts, 
introversion  of  the  libido,  and  reanimation  of  old 
infantile  conflicts,  have  not  been  definitely  estab- 
lished. The  symptoms  are  so  numerous  and  occur 
in  such  various  combinations,  continuously  or  in  at- 
tacks, and  involve  so  many  different  parts  of  the 
body,  that  it  is  impracticable  even  to  enumerate  them 
in  this  place.  Among  the  circulatory  and  respiratory 
disturbances  we  have  tachycardia,  brachycardia, 
phrenocardia,  dyspnoea,  sobbing,  thoracic  og^res-  \ 
sion,  and  asthmatic  attacks ;  in  the  vasomotor  sphere 
ws  have  sudden  congestions,  redness  or  pallor,  chills, 
goose  skin,  etc.;  in  the  secretory  and  excretory 
spheres  we  have  dryness  of  the  mouth,  diminution 
of  the  gastric  juices,  outbreaks  of  perspiration,  pol- 
yuria,  pollakiuria,  diarrhea,  polydipsia,  etc.;  in  the 
sphere  of  the  involuntary  muscles,  globus,  strangury, 
pollutions,  constipation,  colicky  pains,  etc.;  in  the 
gastric  sphere,  loss  of  appetite,  nausea,  vomiting, 
voracious  hunger,  pyrosis,  etc. ;  in  the  motor  sphere, 
great  restlessness,  purposeless  moving  about,  trem- 
bling, twitchings,  etc. ;  in  the  sphere  of  the  sensory 
nerves,  paresthesias  of  all  sorts,  neuralgic  pains, 
excessive  sensitiveness  to  light,  hyperacousis,  etc. 
Among  many  other  symptoms  we  shall  mention  only 
a  marked  general  irritability,  distressing  insomnia, 
moodiness,  crankiness,  worrisomeness,  abnormal 
apprehensiveness,  locomotor  vertigo,  localized 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  121 

edemas,  dermographia,  urticaria,  occupation  neu- 
roses, nightmares,  distressing  dreams,  dizziness, 
fainting  spells,  certain  phobias,  a  diminution  of  sex- 
ual desire,  etc.,  etc. 

The  Psychoneuroses. — Under  this  term  we  include 
Conversion  Hysteria,  Apprehension  Hysteria 
(Phobias),  Obsessive  or  Impulsive  Ideas  or  Acts, 
certain  forms  of  Epilepsy,  etc.  We  may  state  it  as 
a  result  of  psychoanalytic  investigations  that  in  the 
evolution  of  every  psychoneurosis  there  are  three 
stages:  (1)  that  of  infantile  fixation  or  disturbance 
in  the  evolution  of  the  libido;  (2)  that  of  repression 
and  (3)  that  of  symptom  formation.  As  a  result  of 
certain  experiences  in  the  infancy  of  persons  of  a 
peculiar  psychosexual  constitution  there  occurs  an 
interference  with  the  normal  evolution  of  the  libido, 
or,  in  other  words,  a  fixation  of  some  particular 
phase  of  the  individual's  sexuality.  During  the  lives 
of  all  of  us  there  occur  all  sorts  of  experiences  and 
wishes  of  a  sexual  nature  the  recollection  of  which 
—for  reasons  of  shame,  disgust,  conscience,  etc. — is 
disagreeable  to  us,  and  which  we  strive  to  forget  (to 
repress).  As  a  result  of  the  dynamic  nature  of  these 
repressed  processes  there  results  a  conflict  between 
these  two  antagonistic  forces ;  the  censured  wish  that 
is  seeking  to  realize  itself  consciously  and  the  forces 
that  strive  to  keep  all  knowledge  of  these  wishes  out 
of  consciousness.  Subsequently,  as  a  result  of  the 
various  physical  causes  of  inadequate  sexual  grati- 
fication that  we  have  enumerated  in  the  preceding 


122  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

section  and  the  accompanying  psychic  conflicts,  the 
libido  is  withdrawn  from  the  disappointing  world 
of  reality  and  introverted,  and  the  repressed  in- 
fantile desires  are  recharged  with  energy. 

The  psychic  factors,  e.  g.,  repressed  infantile  sex- 
ual components  (fixation  of  the  libido  on  one  or 
other  parent,  masturbation,  etc.),  a  homosexual  ten- 
dency, a  perverse  tendency,  etc.,  play  the  most  im- 
portant role  in  the  individual's  inability  to  gratify 
his  libido.  For  physical  and  (or)  psychic  reasons 
the  individual  cannot  consume  the  accumulated  libido 
and  morbid  apprehension  necessarily  results.  The 
attempt  at  repression  does  not  succeed  and  there 
follows  a  compromise  between  the  repressing  force 
and  the  repressed  desire.  This  compromise  con- 
stitutes the  symptoms  of  the  neurosis.  We  may  say, 
then,  that  the  symptoms  of  a  psychoneurosis  are  the 
disguised  fulfillment  of  unconscious  desires ;  in  other 
words,  the  symptoms  are  the  equivalents  of  and 
substitutes  for  the  patient's  sexual  activities.  In 
all  these  cases  the  free-floating  fear  which  represents 
the  unconsumed  libido  attaches  itself  to  any  one 
or  more  of  the  pathogenic  complexes  that  exist  in 
abundance  in  all  of  us  and  so  give  rise  to  all  sorts 
of  phobias.  The  role  played  by  the  erogenous  zones 
and  the  mechanism  of  the  production  of  the  great 
variety  of  puzzling  symptoms  cannot  be  entered  upon 
here.  Nor  can  we  now  take  up  the  discussion  of  the 
influence  of  psychic  conflicts  and  an  unsatisfactory 
sexual  life  upon  the  chemistry  of  the  internal  secre- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  123 

tions  and  the  relationship  of  this  to  the  process  of 
symptom-formation.  The  influence  of  heredity  is 
also  not  to  be  overlooked  in  this  connection,  any 
more  than  the  banal  factors  (shock,  worry,  illness, 
etc.)  to  which  most  writers — erroneously — attach 
prime  importance. 

The  Psychoses. — Most  observers  are  agreed  that 
the  development  of  certain  psychoses  is  favored  by 
sexual  abstinence  by  virtue  of  the  depression  re- 
sulting from  suppression  of  the  libido  and  the  ex- 
haustion of  mental  energies  in  the  effort  to  overcome 
the  sexual  cravings,  etc.  That  there  is  a  great  deal 
of  truth  in  this  belief  is  evident  from  the  frequency 
with  which  dementia  precox  (paraphrenia)  and  other 
psychoses  break  out  in  the  period  of  adolescence 
which,  as  we  know,  is  a  particularly  dangerous  pe- 
riod for  all  individuals  who  by  constitution  and 
heredity  are  predisposed  to  a  neurosis.  Of  the  mech- 
anism of  the  evolution  of  the  psychoses,  with  the 
exception  of  paranoia,  we  know  as  yet  very  little. 
Freud  and  Ferenczi  have  shown  that  very  often,  per- 
haps always,  paranoia  develops  as  a  defensive  re- 
action against  the  irruption  of  the  repressed  homo- 
sexuality in  individuals  in  whom  certain  injurious 
banal  factors  acting  upon  a  fixed  infantile  "nar- 
cism"  have  undermined  or  destroyed  the  sublima- 
tion of  the  homosexual  impulse. 

To  any  one  who  has  thought  at  all  about  the  sexual 
life  of  the  cultured  races  it  must  be  evident  that  our 
treatment  of  the  subject  is  anything  but  complete. 


124  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

We  have  said  and  suggested  very  little  about  the 
deleterious  influence  of  sexual  irregularities  on  the 
character  of  the  individual,  the  injury  to  society  re- 
sulting from  the  diminished  working  capacity  of 
persons  struggling  with  their  sexual  desires,  the 
great  economic  loss  resulting  from  the  steady  in- 
crease of  neurotics  (which  keeps  pace — step  for  step 
— with  the  heightening  of  sexual  restraints),  the 
greatly  diminished  joy  of  life  and  general  discon- 
tent and  apprehensiveness,  the  injurious  influence  of 
parental  disharmony  and  neuroses  on  the  develop- 
ment of  the  children,  and  the  prevalence  of  prosti- 
tution and  venereal  diseases.  We  are  paying  too 
high  a  price  for  our  theoretical  morals, — morals  for 
which  we  are  not  fitted  by  constitution.  And  it  is 
this  conflict  between  our  natures  and  our  hypocriti- 
cal morality  that  makes  of  us — especially  Americans 
— a  nervous,  unhappy,  pessimistic,  money-grubbing, 
and  loveless  people. 

How  is  this  melancholy  state  of  affairs  to  be  reme- 
died? Because  of  the  medical  and  sociological  sig- 
nificance of  the  many  difficult  problems  touched  upon 
in  the  preceding  pages  we  shall  outline,  though 
briefly,  such  measures  as  seem  likely  to  remedy  and 
prevent  the  conditions  enumerated  as  well  as  to  as- 
sist the  race  in  its  cultural  progress.  As  to  the  treat- 
ment of  the  various  organic  and  functional  diseases, 
the  actual  neuroses  and  the  psychoneuroses,  by  gen- 
eral medical  measures  and  by  some  form  of  psycho- 
therapy, preferably  psychoanalysis,  we  shall  say 


SEXUAL  TEUTHS  125 

nothing  at  this  time.    Prevention  is  better  than  cure 
— and  cheaper  and  more  certain. 

1.  Infancy  and  Childhood. — The  psychosexual 
traumata,  real  and  imagined,  that  occur  during  the 
first  six  years  of  life  determine  the  occurrence  of  a 
psychoneurosis  later  in  life.  Anything  that  occurs 
later  in  life  acts  only  as  exciting  cause  and  supplies 
the  energy  that  reanimates  and  activates  the  re- 
pressed infantile  complexes  and  desires.  If,  then, 
the  increase  of  the  neuroses  is  to  be  arrested,  all  our 
attention  must  be  directed  to  the  period  of  infancy. 
Parents  and  others  entrusted  with  the  rearing  of  in- 
fants must  be  instructed  along  the  following  lines : 
not  to  stimulate  and  excite  the  children  sexually  by 
rocking  them,  kissing  them  often,  kissing  their 
genital  or  gluteal  regions ;  irritating  the  genital  and 
anal  zones  when  cleaning,  bathing  or  dressing  the 
babies;  pacifiers,  nipples  and  milk  bottles  should 
not  be  left  in  their  mouths  for  a  long  time;  they 
should  not  be  permitted  to  sleep  with  their  parents 
or  where  they  can  overhear  sexual  embraces ;  every- 
thing suggestive  of  the  coarse  sexual  should  be 
carefully  kept  from  their  eyes  and  ears ;  they  should 
not  be  left  lying  in  soiled  or  wet  diapers  for  any 
length  of  time ;  the  functions  of  the  bladder  and  rec- 
tum should  be  looked  after  simply  and  in  a  business- 
like way,  without  any  ceremonial  or  excessive  fuss- 
ing; rivalries  and  jealousies  between  children  should 
be  guarded  against  in  every  way  possible,  the  pa- 
rents must  refrain  from  quarreling,  so  as  not  to  elicit 


126  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

the  sympathies  of  their  children  on  behalf  of  the  one 
or  the  other  parent  and  so  teach  them  too  early  to 
love  and  hate;  the  child's  sexuality  must  not  be  pre- 
maturely awakened  by  expending  too  much  love  upon 
it;  undue  severity  with  a  child  is  as  dangerous  as 
excessive  fondling  and  pampering;  young  children 
should  not  be  permitted  to  see  their  parents  naked 
or  in  the  performance  of  their  excretory  functions, 
etc. ;  but  in  all  these  things  the  parents  must  avoid 
giving  the  child  the  impression  that  they  are  con- 
cealing anything  from  it  or  that  there  is  something 
to  conceal.  That  the  children  must  be  carefully 
guarded  against  being  sexually  abused  or  enlight- 
ened by  companions,  domestics  and  tutors,  goes 
without  saying.  Exciting  tales  of  adventure,  cruelty, 
cunning  and  ghosts,  must  be  strictly  tabooed.  In- 
fantile masturbation  in  moderation  should  be  wholly 
ignored,  as  it  is  harmless  and  universal;  if  prac- 
ticed to  excess  it  shows  that  the  child  is  already  suf- 
fering from  a  neurosis  and  in  need  of  skilful  medi- 
cal attention.  In  trying  to  break  a  child  of  the  mas- 
turbatory  habit  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  not  to 
threaten  or  frighten  it.  The  games  of  little  boys  and 
girls  should  be  supervised  by  their  elders.  Corporal 
punishment,  especially  spanking  the  gluteal  region, 
in  sport  or  in  earnest,  should  be  refrained  from. 
Above  all  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  young  chil- 
dren are  very  suggestible;  humiliating  comparisons 
with  other  children  should  be  shunned  like  wildfire; 
favoritism  should  not  be  permitted  to  occur  and  the 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  127 

weakness  of  children  should  not  be  brought  home  to 
them.  Other  precautionary  measures  along  these 
lines  will  readily  suggest  themselves  to  intelligent 
parents  and  learned  physicians. 

2.  Sexual  Education. — Without  going  into  details 
I  shall  only  say  that  a  child's  curiosity  as  to  sexual 
matters,  the  distinction  of  the  sexes,  the  source  of 
children,  etc.,  is  to  be  satisfied  exactly  in  the  same 
manner  and  spirit  as  its  curiosity  regarding  any- 
thing else  that  vexes  its  infant  mind.  This  must 
be  done  privately,  by  either  parent,  simply,  tactfully, 
truthfully,  beautifully — and  wisely,  without  fuss  or 
ceremony,  and  in  accordance  with  the  child's  under- 
standing. The  parent  of  the  future  must  be  edu- 
cated to  this  and  how  to  do  it.  The  classroom  is  no 
place  for  such  instruction. 

3  Schooldays. — During  the  schooldays  the  child 
must  be  guarded  against  the  reawakening  of  the  re- 
pressed sexuality  by  perverse  playfellows.  This 
applies  particularly  to  the  years  preceding  puberty, 
the  most  dangerous  period  for  the  developing  boy  or 
girl.  Erotic  "literature"  of  every  description,  de- 
cent and  indecent,  especially  the  latter,  is  devoured 
with  avidity  at  this  time  and  works  incalculable  dam- 
age. The  sexual  education  of  the  child  ought  to 
keep  pace  with  his  or  her  development.  Sports  and 
pastimes  that  are  capable  of  arousing  sexual  feel- 
ings and  desires,  e.  g.,  wrestling,  swinging,  carousel 
riding,  certain  dances,  etc.,  should  be  discouraged. 
Nothing  is  so  likely  to  plunge  a  maturing  boy  or  girl 


128  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

into  some  form  of  masturbation  as  sitting  over  long 
and  difficult  lessons  after  school  hours ;  the  tasks  as- 
signed to  children  for  homework  should  be  light  and 
should  require  only  very  little  time.  In  the  class- 
room children  should  be  given  plenty  of  time  in 
which  to  perform  the  work  assigned  them ;  hurrying 
a  child  or  standing  over  it  excites  it  so  that  it  is 
very  apt  to  masturbate.  For  the  same  reason  the 
strain  of  preparing  for  and  passing  examinations 
should  be  abolished :  every  competent  teacher  knows 
what  pupils  are  fitted  for  advancement. 

4.  Adolescence. — Much  of  what  has  preceded  ap- 
plies literally  to  the  period  following  puberty.  With 
the  occurrence  of  sexual  maturity  sexual  desire  is 
awakened  and,  in  healthy  individuals,  cannot  be  re- 
pressed without  danger.  Nature  takes  no  cognizance 
of  artificial  economic  or  sociologic  barriers  to  the 
gratification  of  the  libido.  The  sexual  instinct  may 
be  maltreated  and  fretted  but  it  cannot  be  played 
upon.  A  large  portion  of  the  libido  may  be  sub- 
limated into  work,  athletics,  literature,  art,  ethics, 
religion,  etc.,  but  it  is  impossible  wholly  to  divert 
it  from  its  natural  ends  (pleasure  and  procreation). 
Modern  civilized  life  is  so  full  of  sexual  excitants 
that  no  normal  human  being  can  avoid  coming  under 
their  influence,  and  even  if  he  could,  nature  would 
not  permit  it.  To  frighten  adolescent  boys  and  girls 
into  abstinence  by  exaggerated  portrayals  of  the 
consequences  of  gonorrhoea,  chancroids  and  syphilis, 
is  as  immoral  as  it  is  futile,  and  extremely  apt  to 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  129 

beget  a  large  number  of  venerophobes.  To  teach 
girls  that  the  sexual  is  vile,  degrading,  or  bestial,  is 
to  make  them  incapable  of  love  and  to  become  re- 
sponsible for  their  marital  frigidity,  misery  and  in- 
fidelity. Masturbation  should  be  discouraged  be- 
cause of  the  great  temptation  to  its  frequent  repeti- 
tion; but  if  it  is  practiced  in  moderation,  when  the 
sexual  furor  cannot  be  appeased  in  any  other  way, 
and  without  the  simultaneous  indulgence  in  fan- 
tasies, it  is  harmless.  Fortunately  we  physicians 
will  rarely  be  called  upon  to  teach  any  one  how  to 
masturbate.  Nature  has  attended  to  that  for  us. 
But  in  case  of  need,  we  should  not  hesitate  to  per- 
form our  plain  duty.  In  our  present  sociological 
regime  masturbation  for  boys  and  girls  of  a  certain 
age,  endowed  with  a  certain  amount  of  sexuality,  is 
an  absolute  necessity  and  may  save  them  from  a 
grave  neurosis  or  a  career  of  crime. 

5.  Prostitution. — That  the-  sexual  cannot  be 
wholly  suppressed  is  tacitly  admitted  by  modern 
morality's  sanction  of  the  double  standard.  But  if 
prostitution  is  prohibited  for  women,  it  should  also 
be  prohibited  for  men.  That  prostitution  is  a  poor, 
inadequate,  and  dangerous  substitute  for  a  normal 
sexual  life  is  clear  from  what  has  preceded.  If, 
however,  it  is  to  be  permitted  to  continue,  it  should 
be  licensed,  segregated,  properly  supervised,  and 
there  should  be  no  calumny  attaching  to  one  resort- 
ing to  it. 


130  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

6.  Early  and  Terminable  Marriage. — A  fairer, 
more  equitable,  more  salutary,  and  more  proper  way 
out  of  the  dilemma,  however,  is  to  so  modify  our  mar- 
riage system  as  to  make  it  possible  wholly  to  do 
away  with  prostitution,  prolonged  abstinence,  etc., 
and  to  enable  adolescent  and  adult  men  and  women 
to  lead  a  normal  sexual  life.  As  soon  after  or  about 
the  age  of  twenty — the  " romantic  age" — as  men  and 
women  find  a  vita  sexualis  necessary  for  their  health 
they  should  be  encouraged  to  marry  without  regard 
to  their  financial  status.  If  the  newly  married  cou- 
ple cannot  or  do  not  wish  to  go  into  housekeeping, 
they  should  continue  to  abide  with  their  parents  or 
with  the  parents  of  either  of  the  contracting  parties 
until  they  decide  to  live  together  by  themselves.  Un- 
happily married  couples  should  be  permitted  to 
sever  their  relationship  more  easily  than  at  present, 
somewhat  along  the  lines  outlined  by  Ellen  Key  in 
her  book,  "Love  and  Marriage."  Incurable  ejacu- 
latio  precox,  impotence,  venereal  disease,  frigidity, 
incompatibility,  adultery,  insanity,  desertion,  non- 
support,  inversion,  perversion,  etc.,  should  be  suffi- 
cient grounds  for  divorce,  j  Love,  and  love  alone, 
should  be  the  basis  for  marriage, — if  the  psychic 
health  of  the  race  is  to  be  saved. 

Prevention  of  Conception. — The  greatest  obsta- 
cle to  early  marriage  is,  without  exception,  the  great 
probability  of  parenthood  and  the  expense,  respon- 
sibility and  sacrifice,  associated  with  the  rearing  of 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  131 

children.  So,  too,  in  the  married  the  desire  to  avoid 
a  numerous  progeny  is  the  cause  for  refraining  from 
coitus  or  resorting  to  various  tricks  to  frustrate  the 
procreative  instinct.  How  these  procedures  favor 
the  development  of  the  psychoneuroses,  prostitu- 
tion, the  gradual  estrangement  between  husband  and 
wife,  adultery,  etc.,  is  obvious  to  one  who  has  fol- 
lowed our  thesis.  To  prevent  all  this,  our  laws  must 
be  so  modified  as  to  permit  physicians  to  instruct  men 
and  women  in  the  art  of  preventing  conception.  No 
physician  who  has  seen  the  benefits  of  such  instruc- 
tion in  restoring  marital  happiness  and  in  doing 
away  with  distressing  symptoms  can  have  any 
doubts  as  to  the  wisdom  of  the  policy  herein  ad- 
vocated. 

8.  Licensed  Abortion. — Until  the  medical  profes- 
sion has  perfected  a  method  of  preventing  concep- 
tion in  a   non-castrated   female  it    should  not   be 
illegal  for  a  duly  licensed  physician  to  induce  a 
miscarriage  at  any  time  during  the  first  three  or  four 
months  of  gestation. 

9.  Psychoanalysis. — Finally,  as  one  of  the  most 
valuable  prophylactics  against  the  occurrence  of  the 
actual  and  psychoneuroses,  of  psychic  impotence,  of 
alcoholism,  of  criminality,  of  masturbation,  etc.,  the 
psychoanalysis  of  every  maturing  boy  or  girl  that 
shows  the  slightest  signs  of  " nervousness'*  is  to  be 
highly  recommended.    For  this  purpose  a  board  of 
trained  psychoanalysts  ought  to  be  connected  with 


132  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

every  public  school,  orphan  asylum  and  reformatory. 
Along  these  lines  must  our  efforts  be  directed  if 
we  are  to  insure  the  physical,  mental  and  moral 
health  of  the  race. 


INSTRUCTING    THE    YOUNG    IN    SEXUAL 
MATTERS 

BY  DE.  FBITZ  WITTELS 

WHAT  distinguishes  us  from  the  animals  is  (1)  our 
spoken  language,  (2)  our  erect  gait  and  (3)  the  fact 
that  our  young  need  sexual  instruction.  It  seems  the 
human  race  would  die  out  unless  mothers,  steeped  in 
sociological  lore,  dry-as-dust  pedagogs  and  doctors 
reeking  of  carbolic  acid  took  the  poor  little  thing  in 
hand,  explained  to  him  the  role  of  pollen  in  plant 
life,  revealed  to  him  that  in  the  tapeworm  both  sexes 
are  found  in  a  single  individual  while  in  higher  ani- 
mal forms  the  sexes  are  always  separated  and  that 
the  milt  and  roe  of  fishes  are  not  only  foodstuffs 
but  serve  for  purposes  of  reproduction.  "And  you 
see,"  those  wiseacres  add,  "we,  too,  must  reproduce 
ourselves  and  it  is  too  bad  that  the  process  should 
be  so  repulsive.  "We  must  go  through  it  much  against 
our  wishes  but  unfortunately  there  is  no  other 
method  available. ' ' 

After  this  wonderful  preparation,  the  child  en- 
counters a  physician  who,  with  awe-inspiring  words 
of  warning,  draws  for  him  a  disgusting  picture  of 
sexual  relations ;  this  at  the  very  time  when  mother 
nature  is  about  to  lay  on  the  blooming  young  creature 

133 


134  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

the  royal  mantle  of  puberty.  It  may  be  that  owing 
to  peculiar  circumstances  our  children  cannot  grow 
free  and  fragrant  like  the  flowers  of  the  fields;  but 
why  pester  them  with  hygiene,  pedagogy,  natural 
history  and  Christianity  until  that  royal  mantle  looks 
like  the  frayed  and  tattered  cloak  of  a  beggar?  We 
grant  that  the  wild  sex  urge  must  be  controlled  on 
account  of  the  social  and  pathological  dangers  that 
follow  in  its  wake;  we  shouldn't  on  the  other  hand 
set  traps  in  which  it  gets  crushed.  We  should  only 
restrain  it  with  the  flower  wreaths  of  the  worship- 
ful respect  it  deserves  and  which  in  the  happy  pre- 
Christian  times  was  not  denied  to  it. 

"But  this  is  precisely  what  we  are  striving  to  do," 
sweet  ladies  and  gentlemen  will  remark.  "What  is 
holier  than  the  laws  of  reproduction?  What  could 
impart  to  children  whose  sexuality  is  still  dormant 
a  loftier  idea  of  love  than  to  show  them  how  it  rules 
the  whole  living  universe  1 ' ' 

Isn't  it  surprising  that  great  poets  should  have 
omitted  all  that  information  when  they  were  singing 
hymns  to  love?  Romeo,  Werther  and  Tristan  got 
along  splendidly  without  tapeworms,  herrings,  mono- 
and  bi-sexual  plants,  and  Plato's  Banquet  delves 
deeper  into  the  essence  of  love  than  Wilhelm 
Boelsche's  writings  which  describe  the  love  life  of 
Nature  in  miserable  Berlin  style. 

The  visible  symptoms  of  the  sex  urge  may  tend, 
as  far  as  animals  are  concerned,  to  insure  the  re- 
production of  the  individual;  in  man  the  sex  urge 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  135 

has  quite  a  different  meaning;  in  the  shape  of  eroti- 
cism it  assumes  the  importance  of  a  mental  condi- 
tion, observable  only  in  man;  it  is  no  longer  a  phe- 
nomenon of  the  lower  abdominal  regions,  as  special- 
ists in  sexual  diseases  seem  to  assume.* 

This  fact  together  with  its  real  significance  is  kept 
from  the  child.  The  child  will  never  understand 
why  a  man  could  kill  himself  for  a  woman's  love; 
for  this  is  a  mystery  which  cannot  be  learnt  but  must 
be  actually  felt.  All  the  finest  details  of  reproduc- 
tion in  animals  can  be  learnt.  A  child,  however,  will 
never  realize  the  connection  between  the  fertilizing 
action  of  pollen  and  the  sexual  life  of  man,  which  is 
an  entirely  different  thing;  worse  yet  he  will  de- 
velop his  ideals  in  the  wrong  direction  which  is  char- 
acteristic of  this  age  of  Christian  biology. 

The  love  ideal  of  our  ancestors  has  become  a 
breeder 's  ideal.  Thus  spoke  Zarathustra :  ' '  By  mar- 
riage I  mean  the  will  to  have,  to  create  one  who  is 
more  than  those  who  created  it."  And  Zarathustra 
is  taken  by  Ellen  Key  and  her  ilk  for  a  cattle  breeder 
and  enrolled  in  her  group  of  followers. 

Impressionable  girls  who  are  fond  of  memorizing 
this  quotation  from  Zarathustra  should  ascertain 
whether  they  are  not  sinning  against  the  Goddess  of 
love  who  rules  over  the  universe  and  who  will  never 
become  the  handmaid  of  Ceres,  Goddess  of  fecundity. 

Much  holier  than  the  law  of  reproduction  is  the 
law  of  love;  the  most  glorious  love  is  that  of  an 

*Not  all  specialists.     The  really  modern  sexologists  know. 


136  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

immature  child  who  knows  nothing  of  reproduction. 
Isolde  dies  at  the  side  of  her  dead  Tristan ;  her  love 
dies  with  him;  Lohengrin  leaves  behind  him  hopes 
of  fatherhood  and  therefore  Elsa  can  well  let  him 
go ;  her  love  lives  and  waits. 

When  we  enlighten  an  entirely  inexperienced 
creature  about  what  seems  to  be  the  sole  aim  of  love, 
before  that  creature  has  felt  the  slightest  longing 
for  a  creature  of  the  opposite  sex,  it  is  theoretically 
impossible  for  that  creature  to  ever  experience  a 
great,  genuine  passion.  It  is  oppressed  by  a  false 
sense  of  morality,  I  might  say  by  the  metaphysics 
of  sexual  love.  Fortunately  the  resources  of  our 
soul  are  so  inexhaustible  that  we  will  forsake  not 
only  our  father  and  mother  but  even  natural  history 
to  follow  our  beloved. 

The  myth  of  the  stork  is  harmless ;  no  intelligent 
child  believes  it  any  more.  The  reproduction  myth 
is  not  even  a  half  truth  and  therefore  worse  than  a 
lie  out  of  whole  cloth. 

To  allow  natural  history  to  settle  all  the  facts 
concerning  our  sex  life  is  simply  criminal.  If  we 
must  give  to  early  youth  some  artificial  explanations, 
why  not  do  it  through  the  study  of  history?  The 
most  ennobling  feature  of  history  is  the  fact  that 
it  shows  constantly  the  absolute  power  of  love.  The 
teaching  of  history,  however,  should  be  very  dif- 
ferent from  what  it  is  nowadays.  We  must  not  call 
Mark  Antony  a  weakling  because  he  lost  a  world  for  a 
woman's  sake ;  we  must  call  him  a  great  Eoman  who 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  137 

knelt  before  a  woman's  greatness  because  he  was 
a  real  man.  We  must  not  conceal  so  carefully  from 
our  children  the  role  woman  has  played  in  the  life 
of  our  great  menjlwe  must  tell  them  that  no  har- 
moniously balanced  character  has  developed  without 
the  influence  of  youthful  kisses,  and  that  nothing  of 
real  value  has  ever  come  into  being  except  through 
the  influence  of  some  woman. 

We  should  through  a  truthful  representation  of 
history  instill  into  school  boys  a  deep  respect  for 
woman,  and  into  our  girls,  a  glorious  pride  in  their 
sex.  I  should  think  that  a  deep  study  of  history 
would  prepare  one  better  for  the  realities  of  sexual 
life  and  the  control  of  the  awakening  urge  than  a 
study  of  the  tapeworm's  anatomy.  ...  A  child 
taught  according  to  this  method  would  regard  with 
an  entirely  different  eye  the  relations  between  his 
parents;  fathers  and  mothers  would  feel  more  free 
to  reveal  to  their  children  "the  brutal  facts"  when- 
ever that  became  necessary. 

When  children  bring  from  the  school  room  to  their 
home  the  morality  of  the  world's  history,  instead  of 
a  hypocritical  morality,  we  will  no  longer  need  to 
apologize  to  them  for  loving. 

The  brutality  with  which  children  learn  sex  facts 
from  their  playmates  is  often  preferable  to  the  so- 
ciological rant  of  a  mother  who  shows  to  her  child 
a  stamen  when  the  child  on  the  brink  of  puberty 
expects  great  wonders.  Mothers  of  that  type  should 
be  burnt  alive  like  witches.  If  they  had  not  hope- 


138  SEXUAL  TEUTHS 

lessly  forgotten  their  own  childhood,  there  would  still 
smolder  under  the  ashes  a  spark  that  would  make 
honey  flow  from  their  lips,  not  boresome  theory.  If 
they  were  pious  Christians  who  nursed  an  ascetic 
ideal  in  their  hearts,  we  might  respect  them  for  the 
sake  of  their  ideal.  It  is  nauseating,  however,  to 
hear  them,  whenever  they  speak  of  sexual  facts, 
break  forth  into  a  whine  about  parturition;  you 
know  that  type  of  talk:  "How  I  have  suffered  to 
bring  you  into  the  world."  They  only  sow  in  the 
mind  of  the  child  thoughts  of  suffering  and  sorrow, 
as  though  this  were  the  only  significance  of  the  gift 
which  makes  the  gods  envy  the  mortals.  Shall  we 
make  the  child  bear  the  consequences  of  the  fact 
that  he  was  born?  Some  day  a  smart  child  will  turn 
and  ask:  "Why  didn't  they  give  you  chloroform?" 

Couldn't  we  bring  up  a  generation  of  mothers  who 
would,  when  the  time  came  to  enlighten  their  chil- 
dren, describe  frankly  the  joys  of  love  and  their 
own  love  experiences?  Wouldn't  children  with  their 
sunny  hearts  understand  that  joy  which  the  future 
holds  in  store  for  them,  more  readily  than  the  hys- 
terical recollections  of  suffering  which  a  healthy 
woman  soon  forgets? 

Women  are  plastic  material.  But  where  are  we 
to  find  the  proper  teachers  of  history?  The  tendency, 
nowadays,  is  to  speak  less  of  battles,  and  more  of 
legislation,  of  treaties,  of  discoveries.  Not  a  word 
has  been  said,  however,  about  laying  more  stress 
on  the  role  played  by  women  in  history.  Of  course 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  139 

much  depends  on  who  would  start  such  a  movement. 
Unfortunately  our  history  teachers,  with  a  few  ex- 
ceptions, should  refrain  from  expressing  themselves 
on  the  subject  of  women.  They  are  as  a  rule  good 
Christians  and  they  just  know  that  love  is  a  sin  and 
that  sin  has  been  brought  into  this  world  by  woman. 
It  is  extraordinary  that  while  the  Greek  language 
and  the  history  of  Greek  culture  are  taught  in  our 
schools,  teachers  never  lay  any  stress  on  the  Greeks' 
love  for  women  and  their  love  for  boys  (which  was 
only  a  sort  of  offshoot  of  the  love  for  woman,  being 
simply  love  for  the  feminine  in  the  boy). 

Philologists  mourn  the  fact  that  the  study  of  the 
Greek  language  in  school  is  on  the  decline;  they 
have  no  one  to  blame  for  it  but  themselves.  They 
have  failed  to  preserve  the  source  of  all  culture ;  they 
have  let  mankind  awaken  from  its  most  glorious 
dream.  Not  a  word  about  Phryne  or  Lais;  but  a 
liberal  distribution  of  bad  marks  for  those  who  can- 
not memorize  grammatical  forms.  Not  only  the  sex- 
ual regeneration  of  mankind  but  its  mental  and 
physical  regeneration  as  well  will  only  come  to  pass 
through  a  renaissance  of  Hellenism.  But  it  seems 
as  though  Pan  would  have  to  be  killed  for  good  be- 
fore he  could  be  resuscitated. 

And  what  should  I  say  of  physicians  who  graft 
onto  a  discourse  upon  sexual  diseases  a  sermon  in 
favor  of  sexual  abstinence? 

Woman  must  have  changed  greatly  since  the  days 
when  nymphs  roamed  the  woodlands;  for  certain 


140  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

physicians  tell  us  that  sexual  maturity  is  only 
reached  in  the  twenty-fifth  year  and  that  the  rich 
food  of  the  well-to-do,  late  morning  sleep  in  soft 
beds  and  alluring  show-windows  are  responsible  for 
all  the  riot  of  sex.  Those  physicians  have  undoubt- 
edly fathomed  the  depths  of  animal  nature. 


SEXUAL  ABSTINENCE  AND  MASTUBBATION 
BY  DR.  FKITZ  WITTELS 

ABSTINENCE  before  marriage  is  maintained  either 
with  the  aid  of  masturbation,  or  without  it.  The 
former  eventuality  is  never  mentioned,  for  it  might 
hurt  the  propaganda  for  continence.  As  in  the  over- 
whelming majority  of  cases  continence  is  accom- 
panied by  masturbation  (which  makes  the  venero- 
phobiacs  of  to-day  and  the  anchorites  of  the  Arabian 
desert  kin)  the  case  for  continence  is  not  accurately 
stated  when  we  neglect  to  mention  masturbation.  A 
limit  is  set  for  normal  sexual  gratification  by  cer- 
tain physical  conditions.  The  possibility  of  over- 
indulging and  the  habit  of  overindulging,  however, 
are  what  makes  masturbation  dangerous. 

Whether  it  is  excess  or  mere  indulgence  in  that 
practice  which  brings  forth  the  various  disorders 
consequent  upon  masturbation,  such  as  apathy,  head- 
aches, stomach  troubles,  neurasthenia  and  melan- 
cholia is  a  purely  medical  question.  Self  gratifi- 
cation, however,  has  a  deep  sociological  import. 
Other  voluptuaries  give  something  of  themselves; 
the  masturbator  is  a  sexual  egoist;  he  reverses  the 
Biblical  saying  and  proclaims  that  it  is  good  for  man 
to  be  alone.  This,  however,  would  only  be  a  slim 

141 


142  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

charge  to  bring  against  the  onanist.  Nature  cares 
little  about  a  few  drops  being  spilled  out  of  her 
melting  pot  and  she  straightens  out  deviations  from 
the  norm  without  giving  a  thought  to  ethical  prin- 
ciples. It  seems,  however,  as  though  onanism  and 
misanthropy  were  two  inseparable  things.  Who-  \ 
soever  can  enjoy  sexual  pleasures  without  the  parti- 
cipation of  another  human  being  withdraws  into 
his  shell  like  a  clam.  Even  Jupiter  came  down  from 
his  throne  when  he  went  lovemaking.  He  was  a  kind 
god.  Masturbation  destroys  kindness  as  surely  as 
love  brings  it  out.  The  worst  of  tyrants  is  the  mas- 
turbator  who  cannot  even  be  mollified  by  a  woman's 
influence.  He  is  the  super-miser.— 

What  it  behooves  us  to  fight  is  not  so  much 
onanism  itself  which  is  a  personal  matter  and  no- 
body else's  business,  but  the  point  of  view  of  the 
onanist,  his  abstinence  from  woman.  At  the  first 
awakening  of  the  sexual  urge  all  men  masturbate. 
Women  are  hard  to  secure  and  young  men  are  bash- 
ful. Then  some  of  them  secure  mates  as  they  con- 
quer the  worlds  and  the  weak  ones  are  left  out  in 
the  cold.  Burning  with  envy  and  hatred  these  call 
morality  to  their  help.  They  for  one  thing  expect 
to  be  rewarded  in  an  after  life  for  their  purity ;  and 
then  they  escape  venereal  disease.  But  syphilis  is 
not  the  most  terrible  of  life's  dangers;  it  is  only  the 
most  obvious.  For  love  has  made  men  suffer  more 
than  syphilis  has.  Whoever  loves  a  woman  will  suf- 
fer through  her. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  143 

There  is  a  vital  difference,  however,  between  the 
man  who  for  fear  of  venereal  infection  gives  up 
love 's  pleasures  and  the  mere  masturbator  who,  too 
weak  for  the  trials  of  love,  abstains  from  sexual 
intercourse.  For  what  help  could  one  expect  from 
such  a  man  in  the  fight  against  diseases  which  can- 
not infect  him,  which  he  may  even  consider  sneer- 
ingly  as  meet  retribution  for  normal  indulgence? 

We  shall  not  cavil  about  the  question  as  to  whether 
there  are,  besides  young  children  and  old  men,  con- 
tinent people  who  do  not  masturbate.  The  mas- 
turbator, however,  is  also  mentally  abstinent.  The 
natural  ardor  which  finds  no  outlet  in  masturbation 
must  be  deflected  into  some  other  channels  and  when 
it  reaches  its  climax  it  becomes  fanaticism.  And 
then  there  arises,  according  to  the  man's  tempera- 
ment or  power,  either  a  harmless  stamp  collector 
or  a  Torquemada. 

Partisans  of  prematrimonial  continence  recom- 
mend the  practice  of  sports  as  a  derivative.  This 
may  hold  good  in  bourgeois  circles,  but  what  of  the 
thousands  who  are  being  treated  in  free  clinics  for 
venereal  diseases,  although  in  factories  or  mines 
they  work  themselves  to  death?  Sports  may  be 
helpful  to  those  who  wear  out  the  carpets  in  the 
reception  rooms  of  physicians,  for  bureaucrats  and 
for  idlers.  An  athlete  dead-tired  after  a  period  of 
training,  a  cavalry  officer  who  has  exhausted  ten 
mounts,  fall  into  bed  and  do  not  think  of  woman.  In 
fact  they  think  of  nothing  whatsoever,  they  become 


144  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

stupid  animals  and  nobody  will  eulogize  football 
champions  as  the  ornament  of  the  human  race. 

People  with  a  regular  occupation  can  only  indulge 
moderately  in  physical  exercise,  taking  a  trip  on 
Sundays,  playing  tennis  or  skating  after  hours; 
those  diversions  simply  serve  to  cheer  up  men  and 
women  who  keep  their  eyes  open  and  enjoy  each 
other's  company.  In  fact  sports  in  which  men  and 
women  take  part  are  the  nicest  little  matchmakers. 
[Wittels  says:  panderers.]  On  the  other  hand,  ath- 
letic clubs  returning  to  their  home  town,  or  soldiers 
on  a  furlough  do  not  shine  by  their  continence.  The 
anchorites  leading  solitary  lives  in  the  desert  never 
even  thought  of  seeking  in  physical  exercise  a  pro- 
tection against  sinful  desires.  They  found  in  fast- 
ing, waking  and  flagellation  better  means  of  lower- 
ing their  vitality  and  consequently  their  sexuality. 
Those  who  are  to-day  warring  on  syphilis  can  hard- 
ly recommend  such  practices ;  they  seek  not  to  lower 
people's  vitality,  but  to  hold  the  sex  urge  within 
bonds.  The  problem  is  complex.  Eeal  men  must 
have  love.  Youth  can  do  just  as  little  without  love 
as  without  food  and  drink.  And  Venus  smiles  upon 
sport,  for  physical  exercise  makes  men  strong.  Sport 
does  not  foster  continence;  it  is  too  healthful  for 
that. 

Besides,  the  chastity  movement  is  likely  to  work 
a  great  hardship  upon  the  women,  for  if  the  men 
go  in  for  continence,  the  women  have  no  hope  of 
ever  escaping  the  slavery  of  sex.  The  women  have 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  145 

now  and  then  demanded  that  men  remain  chaste 
until  marriage,  but  that  demand  was  never  very 
loud,  nor  did  it  find  much  echo.  It  is  to  the  women's 
interest  that  the  men  live  their  life  normally :  for  the 
chaste  man  is  unable  to  understand  woman ;  he  either 
idealizes  her  or  reviles  her,  because  he  does  not  know 
her. 

In  women  continence  brings  forth  many  evils.  It 
drives  them  to  seek  masculine  occupations,  makes 
terrorists  out  of  them  and  hysterics.  This  is  their 
first  revenge.  To  be  shot  by  a  hysterical  woman  is 
not  so  bad ;  to  be  slowly  plagued  to  death  by  her  is 
worse.  And,  now,  behold  the  fear  of  syphilis  calling 
into  being  a  masculine  form  of  hysteria !  Abstinence 
cranks  will  not  do  away  with  syphilis ;  but  thanks  to 
them  specialists  in  nervous  diseases  and  psy- 
chiatrists will  have  their  hands  full.  And  then 
women  coveted  of  no  man  avenge  themselves — re- 
venge number  second — by  growing  ugly.  [Which 
Wittles  says  should  not  worry  us  overmuch,  but 
which  does  worry  the  Editor  a  good  deal.  It  is  a 
pity  to  see  nice  girls  turning  into  sour,  angular 
old  maids.] 

Very  fortunately  Nature  bothers  very  little  about 
ethics  and  eugenics;  one  spring  day  will  kill  off 
more  ethical  principles  than  all  the  wiseacres  could 
manufacture  in  a  whole  year.  The  chaste  are  and 
will  ever  be  a  dwindling  minority.  One  of  the  dan- 
gers of  the  chastity  movement,  however,  is  that  it 
may  find  a  fertile  soil  in  ground  already  tilled  by  the 


146  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

pious.  Then  we  will  have  official  continence  and 
secret  lovemaking;  and  secret  diseases  will  become 
more  secret  than  ever  and  the  official  world  will  have 
no  sympathy  for  the  unlucky  ones.  The  chastity 
movement  will  have  only  one  result :  to  increase  our 
hypocrisy,  and  the  spread  of  venereal  diseases. 

If  we  could  only  admit  openly  and  frankly  that 
we  all  go  lovemaking  before  and  after  marriage,  if 
it  was  really  shameful  not  to  have  a  mistress,  so- 
ciety would  care  for  the  victims  of  love  and  honor 
them  as  we  honor  the  warrior  wounded  on  the  battle 
field.  [Phew!]  If  love  before  marriage  is  shameful, 
venereal  diseases  are  also  shameful  and  the  infected 
ones  are  despicable.  How  illogical  those  are  who 
in  their  desire  to  kill  off  syphilis  demand  the  regis- 
tration of  every  case  and  yet  preach  continence! 
The  patients  would  fear  the  physician  likely  to  re- 
port them  more  than  they  would  syphilis ;  they  would 
allow  themselves  to  be  eaten  up  by  the  disease  rather 
than  to  brave  the  public  shame  that  would  make  life 
impossible  for  them  in  bourgeois  circles.  Without 
registration  of  cases  and  compulsory  treatment  we 
will  never  stamp  out  syphilis ;  before  we  can  intro- 
duce such  necessary  measures,  however,  we  must 
conduct  a  campaign  of  education.  Instead  of  preach- 
ing continence  we  must  teach  the  powerful  influence 
of  love,  the  value  of  caresses  and  the  dangers  of 
asceticism.  Then  a  syphilis  bill  providing  for  regis- 
tration of  cases  could  be  introduced.  Under  the 
present  conditions,  however,  to  treat  syphilis  as  an 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  147 

ordinary  epidemic  disease  would  present  many  dan- 
gers. Society  catches  the  diseases  it  deserves  and 
cannot  be  cured  by  statutes. 

The  sexual  urge  is  not  merely  what  the  preachers 
of  continence  represent  it,  a  phenomenon  of  the  lower 
abdominal  regions.  The  physician  who  prescribes 
abstinence  as  a  preventive  of  venereal  disease  just 
as  he  would  prescribe  boiled  water  as  a  preventive 
of  cholera,  puts  the  sexual  instinct  on  a  par  with 
alcohol  and  tobacco,  abstinence  from  which  is  not 
detrimental  but  rather  beneficial  to  body  and  mind. 

That  spirit  has  created  some  of  the  worst  horrors 
of  our  times,  the  terrible  situation  the  girl  mother, 
the  illegitimate  child  and  the  prostitute  find  them- 
selves in.  The  penal  code  takes  no  notice  of  extra- 
matrimonial  relations  and,  therefore,  the  self- 
righteous  welcome  pregnancy  and  infection  as  ad- 
juncts to  the  penal  code.  But  he  who  escapes  both  is 
simply  like  the  thief  who  has  not  been  caught. 

As  far  as  prostitution  is  concerned  it  is  only  the 
idiot  who  will  insult  the  prostitute.  Love  is  woman's 
currency.  She  repays  with  love  whatever  is  offered 
her,  be  it  cash  money  or  her  upkeep  for  life  in  the 
form  of  marriage.  As  long  as  marriage  exists  the 
prostitute  will  be  despised  because  she  is  too  cheap. 
Women  hate  prostitutes  because  they  underbid  them 
and  the  men  scorn  them  because  the  supply  of  them 
is  too  large  and  their  price  too  low.  In  our  society 
built  upon  marriage  there  is  nothing  to  be  done  to 
help  the  prostitute.  She  is  the  female  proletarian. 


148  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

We  can  measure  the  humane  feelings  of  our  modern 
society  from  the  fact  that  it  puts  the  prostitute  on 
the  same  level  with  the  born  criminal.  And  why? 
Probably  because  she  lives  from  the  continuous 
breakdown  of  the  continence  theory.  The  only  way 
to  reclaim  the  prostitute  is  to  erect  anew  the  altar 
of  Venus  and  to  declare  it  honorable  to  worship  her 
in  any  form  whatsoever.  Then  woman  will  have  a 
personality  of  her  own  and  no  longer  be  something 
lower  than  an  animal.  For  it  would  be  better  to  be 
a  dog  than  a  human  being  which  another  human 
being  embraces  with  disgust. 

We  reach  then  the  conclusion  that  abstinence  pro- 
duces a  disgruntled  self -centered  type  of  fanatic  and 
crank.  It  increases  neurasthenia  and  robs  youth  of 
the  only  means  to  forget  the  emptiness  of  life.  It 
militates  against  woman  gaining  her  sexual  freedom, 
damns  the  girl  mother  and  her  child  and  lowers  the 
prostitute  below  the  level  of  human  dignity.  It  de- 
velops unhealthy  instincts  in  woman,  and  drives  her 
into  the  masculine  professions.  The  woman's  beauty 
and  personality  which  thrive  on  man's  desire  are 
thwarted  by  it.  Considering  the  force  of  the  sexual 
urge,  continence  can  only  be  fostered  in  a  small 
measure.  Therefore  the  puritanical  spirit  only  in- 
creases hypocrisy, impedes  the  fight  on  sexual  disease 
and  promotes  the  spread  of  syphilis  and  gonorrhea. 

I  hear  the  continence  cranks  howling :  * '  How  can 
any  one  say  that  we  minimize  the  importance  of  love 
when  we  bespeak  love  unto  death  for  the  first  and 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  149 

only  bride?"  They  advise  people  to  marry  young. 
It  has  been  proved,  however,  that  marriage  does  not 
constitute  a  safe  protection  against  venereal  dis- 
eases. 

Out  of  a  hundred  cases  of  infection  treated  in  free 
clinics  20  patients  had  been  infected  after  marriage 
and  many  specialists  contend  that  the  proportion  of 
venereal  cases  is  still  higher  among  the  well  to  do. 
Continence  cranks  may  well  retort  that  marriage 
with  side  escapades  is  not  what  they  preach  but  this 
type  of  marriage  is  what  we  must  reckon  with  in 
real  life.  The  traveling  man  is  unfaithful  out  of 
want,  the  sedentary  man  out  of  surfeit. 

As  long  as  the  proportion  of  disease  does  not  reach 
50  percent  marriage  can  be  considered  a  protection, 
although  not  an  absolute  one,  against  venereal  in- 
fection. And  then  why  wax  so  enthusiastic  over  a 
protection  which  is  only  relative?  Why  not  rather 
point  out  to  young  people  the  misery  of  poor  families 
in  which  a  child  is  born  every  year?  A  father  is 
merely  a  provider.  Character  building,  pursuit  of  a 
career  come  after  that.  That  does  not  chime  in  with 
the  popular  adage :  Early  marriage,  long  happiness. 

As  far  as  love  itself  is  concerned,  let's  cast  a  re- 
trospective glance  upon  the  nations  where  the  family 
was  held  most  highly,  the  ancient  Romans,  Germans 
and  Jews.  They  married  young  and  adultery  was 
almost  unknown.  But  we  also  are  told  that  the  mates 
didn't  even  know  each  other  before  marriage.  We 
may  then  assume  that  the  matchmaker  plays  a  great 


150  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

role  when  people  marry  young.  Love  comes  later. 
This  is  spoken  in  all  earnestness.  A  healthy  young 
fellow  who  has  never  loved  will  love  any  woman  that 
comes  his  way:  provided,  some  may  say,  that  she 
is  not  unattractive ;  but  at  that  age  every  woman  is 
attractive.  Let  every  man  remember  who  his  first 
love  was  and  in  almost  every  case  it  will  turn  out 
L  to  have  been  a  rather  poor  specimen  of  humanity. 
The  matchmaker  should  not  be  dismissed  contempt- 
uously for  he  can  at  least  forestall  the  worst. 

We  must  estimate  rightly  the  actual  value  of  that 
first  love.  We  assume  that  a  young  human  being, 
ignorant  of  the  world  and  shifting  with  every  wind 
will  settle  rightly  such  an  important  question  and 
turn  into  the  right  direction  as  infallibly  as  a  mag- 
net turns  to  iron  even  when  it  is  concealed  under 
non-metallic  matter.  Mates  that  found  each  other  at 
an  early  age  love  each  other  and  never  repent  for 
having  married  young,  but  this  is  not  love  at  its 
highest.  The  first  love  is  not  love :  it  is  an  infantile 
disease  one  has  to  go  through.  To  judge  the  in- 
tensity of  a  love  one  should  ask  not  how  long  it  has 
lasted,  but  how  many  times  the  man  had  loved  before. 
There  is  no  doubt  but  Goethe  had  for  Frau  von  Stein 
an  affection  which  was,  if  not  warmer,  at  least  more 
conscient  and  more  valuable  than  for  the  Gretchen  he 
tells  us  about  in  Wahrheit  und  Dichtung.  On  his 
last  love  for  Ulrica  von  Levetzow  we  shall  not  pass 
any  judgment.  Old  age  and  adolescence  are  alike; 
anything  that  is  young  attracts  them. 


SEXUAL  TEUTHS  151 

The  position  taken  by  the  continence  cranks  is 
indefensible  even  on  sentimental  grounds.  It  is  life 
and  love  which  build  up  personality  in  both  sexes; 
men  are  molded  a  little  more  by  life,  women  a  little 
more  by  love.  The  tender  chick  that  has  only  taken 
one  step  in  life,  to  pass  from  her  parents '  house  into 
her  husband's  amounts  to  very  little;  she  hasn't 
lived.  Troubadours  didn't  marry  young  and  when 
they  married  they  never  celebrated  their  own  wife 
in  their  poems.  Hearth  and  heart  do  not  always  get 
along  so  very  well.  Passion  vanishes  and  what  is 
left  of  it  cannot  soar  high,  at  least  not  over  the  bore- 
dom of  everyday  life.  Adipose  comfort,  ignoble  con- 
tentment, bourgeois  smugness,  these  are  the  pillars 
of  society;  but  why  mention  love  in  the  same  breath? 

With  our  point  of  view  syphilis  leads  us  around 
a  vicious  circle.  Warnings  to  the  young  will  do  little 
besides  creating  a  generation  of  neurasthenics 
worrying  themselves  to  death.  And  then  it  is  easy 
to  give  warnings,  but  we  will  not  find  it  so  easy  to  tell 
children  that  their  sexual  impulses  are  nothing  to 
be  ashamed  of  and  should  not  be  repressed.  Are  we 
to  explain  to  our  girls  how  they  can  ascertain 
whether  a  man  has  a  purulent  discharge?  This  mere 
suggestion  makes  us  indignant.  Our  girls  are  decent 
girls.  In  decency  they  must  go  through  pregnancy 
and  be  milchcows,  in  decency  they  must  bear  their 
inflammation  of  the  vagina,  in  decency  they  must  rot 
alive.  A  day  will  come  when  we  will  consider  it  more 
important  to  impart  that  sort  of  information  to  the 


152  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

young  than  to  teach  them  the  history  of  literature. 

And  if  some  one  asks  me  now  what  suggestion 
I  have  for  saving  mankind  from  infection  and  un- 
desired  conception,  I  shall  say  that  as  far  as  con- 
ception goes  a  stroke  of  the  pen  would  remove  that 
peril.  As  far  as  infection  is  concerned,  it  looks 
as  though  men  had  never  wanted  to  get  rid  of  it. 
The  measures  adopted  in  times  of  epidemics,  if 
applied  to  the  whole  world  for  several  years,  with 
the  cooperation  of  every  physician  and  of  every 
government  would  stamp  out  syphilis  forever. 

Before  we  can  accomplish  such  a  feat  we  must  first 
become  pagans.  The  hatred  of  venereal  diseases 
will  only  become  strong  enough  when  the  absolute 
necessity  of  caresses  is  recognized  and  the  sacred- 
ness  of  love  in  any  form  has  been  embodied  in  a  sort 
of  religion.  There  is  nothing  unethical  about  loving 
a  woman  of  the  street.  The  only  trouble  is  that 
nowadays  her  lover  must  be  either  a  god  or  a  pimp. 

Syphilis  is  so  completely  bound  up  with  what  we 
call  morality  that  we  will  never  get  rid  of  it  until 
we  get  rid  of  our  so-called  morality.  And  then  to 
some  people  their  chastity  ideal  is  more  important 
than  the  fight  against  syphilis.  We  must  then  pin 
our  faith  to  the  Medical  Profession.  With  the  help 
of  a  vaccine  they  could  save  the  moral  concepts  of 
to-day.  But  they  would  get  little  money  for  their 
research  work.  Who  would  dare  to  confess  that  he 
had  himself  vaccinated  to  escape  the  diseases  con- 
sequent upon  our  present  morality? 


SEXUAL  CAUSES  OF  DIVORCE 
BY  GEH.  JUSTIZBAT  DR.  HORCH,  Mainz 

THE  following  remarks  have  as  a  basis  my  ex- 
perience in  some  hundreds  of  divorce  cases  extend- 
ing over  thirty  years  practice  as  an  attorney.  Only 
from  the  standpoint  of  sexual  science  can  we  hope 
to  understand  the  general  laws  back  of  all  these 
special  cases.  It  is  true  that  most  judges  and  attor- 
neys do  not  regard  this  science  with  favor,  in  fact 
they  speak  of  it  with  contempt  and  at  best  regard 
any  discussion  of  it  as  bad  taste.  As  a  young  attor- 
ney I  was  once  defending  a  dangerous  criminal  and 
I  tried  to  show  that  he  presented  the  criteria  of  a 
defective  in  the  sense  of  the  then  young  Lombroso 
school  and  was  not  wholly  responsible.  The  old 
judge  warned  the  jury  against  letting  themselves  be 
influenced  by  the  teachings  of  this  firebrained  Lam- 
berini  of  whose  work  he  was  evidently  completely 
ignorant.  Things  are  but  little  better  to-day.  There 
are  not  lacking  many  judges  who  reply  to  the  testi- 
mony of  the  psychiatrist.  "This  man  talks  sensibly, 
how  then  can  he  be  insane?"  Similarly  in  sexology 
most  jurists  divide  the  most  powerful  of  human  im- 
pulses into  merely  "allowed  or  not  allowed."  But 
human  fate  really  lies  between  these  limits  and  only 

153 


154  SEXUAL  TEUTHS 

by  a  careful  study  can  we  hope  to  arrive  at  an  under- 
standing. However  personal  and  subjective  my  re- 
marks may  seem,  I  offer  them  in  the  hope  that  they 
may  add  something  to  the  understanding  of  this 
very  difficult  subject. 

That  sexuality  is  the  prime  factor  in  divorce  needs 
no  demonstration  here.  Though  marriages  are 
often  contracted  for  other  reasons,  social  or  finan- 
cial, sex  is  still  the  fundamental  relation  which  de- 
termines the  outcome  for  better  or  worse,  and  that 
regardless  of  age  or  physical  characteristics.  A 
young  man  may  marry  an  old  woman  and  while  the 
sexual  activity  may  be  indeed  limited  it  is  never 
absent.  And  the  same  is  true  of  those  numerous 
unions  of  beautiful  and  ugly,  handsome  and  de- 
formed. Ideas  of  beauty  are  indeed  various  but  the 
male  impulse  being  the  more  active  and  compelling 
will  fulfill  itself  even  under  the  most  unfavorable 
conditions.  We  meet  daily  pregnant  women  of  such 
exceeding  ugliness  that  a  normal  man  cannot  under- 
stand how  it  could  happen.  Yet  so  irresistible  is  the 
male  desire  that  it  does  so  act.  The  woman's  role 
being  the  more  passive  an  unsympathetic  relation  is 
the  more  readily  tolerated.  One  clever  writer  has 
said  that  if  the  same  physiological  preliminaries 
were  needed  by  woman  that  are  required  for  the 
man,  most  marriages  would  never  be  consummated. 
Since  no  such  preliminaries  are  needed  by  her, 
woman's  sexual  activity  seems  to  be  unlimited  even 
toward  the  most  disgusting  of  men.  Even  where 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  155 

the  marriage  to  such  a  man  shows  all  the  ear  marks 
of  legalized  prostitution  she  seems  to  have  no  great 
difficulty  in  fulfilling  her  function  in  this  regard. 

But  these  particular  phenomena  fade  into  insignifi- 
cance in  comparison  with  the  effect  of  sexuality 
upon  the  quarrels  which  lead  to  the  breaking  down 
of  the  marriage  relation.  If  this  cause  is  not  at  first 
sight  apparent  it  is  because  divorce  cases  are  han- 
dled in  a  routine  procedure.  Our  laws  allow  as 
grounds  for  divorce:  adultery,  incest,  unnatural 
practices,  attempted  murder,  desertion  and  insanity 
with  certain  limitations,  and  "if  the  defendant  has 
so  injured  the  marriage  obligations,  or  has  by  such 
immoral  or  dishonorable  conduct  destroyed  the  rela- 
tion that  the  plaintiff  can  not  be  encouraged  to  con- 
tinue in  it."  This  it  usually  expresses  as  extreme 
cruelty  and  inhuman  treatment.  Certain  limitations 
of  a  further  paragraph  of  the  law  greatly  restrict 
the  action  of  this  clause.  It  is  urgently  to  be  de- 
sired that  the  old  Prussian  right  to  divorce  for  in- 
compatibility and  the  civil  right  on  grounds  of  mu- 
tual consent  be  again  legalized.  An  unprejudiced 
observer  will  admit  that  unhappy  marriage  not  only 
injures  the  parents,  but  has  even  a  greater  evil 
effect  upon  the  bringing  up  of  the  children.  This 
becomes  the  more  evident  where  the  children  be- 
come divided  in  their  allegiance  and  take  sides  in 
the  constant  family  quarrels.  I  have  frequently 
observed  that  where  a  divorce  was  secured  the  chil- 
dren fared  immensely  better. 


156  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

As  long  as  the  grounds  for  divorce  remain  so 
purely  formal  we  cannot  hope  for  much  enlighten- 
ment in  the  matter  of  the  real  causes.  At  present 
all  that  is  required  is  a  few  witnesses  who  can  testify 
that  an  adultery  was  committed,  or  that  gross  bru- 
tality be  shown  and  the  wheels  go  round  and  one 
party  is  adjudged  to  be  to  blame.  The  evidence 
which  might  show  the  real  cause  and  the  real  blame 
is  never  before  the  court.  In  most  cases  both  parties 
are  to  blame.  Frequently  a  study  of  the  real  facts 
would  show  that  the  party  who  secured  the  divorce 
was  really  at  fault. 

For  a  complete  elucidation  of  the  blame  the  judge 
has  not  the  evidence  and  I  believe  that  a  conscien- 
tious attorney  to  whom  the  plaintiff  opens  her  heart 
would  be  better  able  to  pass  upon  the  question  of  re- 
sponsibility. But  most  attorneys  regard  these  cases 
as  merely  formal  procedure  and  are  content  if 
enough  evidence  is  available  to  secure  a  judgment. 
This  attitude  works  injustice.  A  careful  observer 
will  soon  be  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  an  in- 
equality of  libido  is  the  primary  cause  of  practically 
all  divorces.  It  is  frequently  asserted  that  the  first 
estrangement  occurred  on  the  wedding  night  and  is 
due  to  the  brutality  of  the  man,  that  his  conduct 
could  only  be  described  as  legalized  rape.  But  this 
is  only  true  of  certain  cases  of  men  wholly  lacking 
in  refinement  and  sympathy.  The  same  charge  is 
raised  however,  in  many  cases  where  the  man  was 
both  refined  and  considerate.  In  most  cases  of 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  157 

course,  any  incongruity  of  impulse  is  finally  adjusted, 
but  where  this  does  not  happen  divorce  is  the  usual 
result.  There  may  be  other  causes  asserted  but  back 
of  them  all  lies  this  lack  of  equality  of  impulse. 

The  credible  assertions  of  many  clients  leave  no 
doubt  in  my  mind  that  many  women  are  sexually  in- 
different and  remain  so  throughout  marriage.  They 
may  fulfill  their  conjugal  duties,  but  too  often  it 
is  only  a  duty  and  where  they  develop  a  certain 
amount  of  excitement  they  yet  never  experience  a 
need  in  the  sense  that  a  man  does.  Women  who  be- 
fore marriage  have  developed  a  strong  tendency  to 
self-gratification  respond  with  difficulty  to  the  de- 
mands of  their  husbands  and  the  husbands  complain 
that  the  women  continue  this  practice  in  marriage 
and  even  give  it  precedence  over  the  normal  rela- 
tion. When  such  a  woman  marries  a  man  sexually 
vigorous  differences  are  sure  to  arise  which  pene- 
trate into  all  parts  of  the  home  life.  The  man  re- 
proaches his  wife  with  coldness  and  she  him  with 
undue  insistence  upon  his  desires  which  wounds  her 
self-respect.  In  such  cases  the  everlasting  nagging 
set  up  makes  a  reconciliation  difficult.  Even  worse 
is  the  case  where  the  woman  is  of  the  higher  potency. 
In  one  case  of  mine  the  bride  boxed  the  groom's 
ears  on  the  wedding  night  because  he  did  not  gratify 
her  as  often  as  she  felt  entitled  to. 

The  commonest  cause  of  divorce — adultery — has 
as  its  origin  this  inequality  of  the  impulse.  The  un- 
satisfied party  seeks  relief  elsewhere  for  that  which 


158  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

marriage  has  not  brought.  Usually  the  man's  ap- 
petite for  variety  has  been  well  developed  before 
marriage  and  his  opportunities  are  naturally  greater 
and  the  risk  of  detection  less.  Without  defending 
him  in  the  least  it  is  at  least  more  easily  understood 
why  he  so  frequently  goes  astray.  The  civil  code 
does  not  recognize  the  husband's  adultery  as  ground 
for  divorce  unless  it  is  consummated  in  the  actual 
residence  of  the  wife.  Those  who  do  not  view  life 
from  the  standpoint  of  a  dogmatic  morality  have 
no  doubt  that  the  formal  treatment  of  divorce  cases 
according  to  our  laws  frequently  lead  to  results 
which  are  far  from  edifying.  Occasional  missteps 
by  the  husband  are  not  always  sufficient  to  secure  a 
divorce,  yet  in  other  cases  a  single  adultery  brings 
divorce  and  the  penalizing  of  the  husband  even  where 
the  judge  knows  that  the  marriage  had  long  since 
ceased  to  be  genuine  or  whatever  mitigating  circum- 
stances were  present.  Not  infrequently  those  ad- 
judged guilty  are  excellent  husbands  and  fathers 
and  cannot  at  all  understand  why  they  should  be 
singled  out  to  bear  the  whole  blame,  when  the  real 
cause  was  the  mismating.  When  Schopenhauer  said 
that  adultery  on  the  husband's  part  was  natural, 
because  he  could  exercise  his  natural  function  at  any 
time,  while  the  woman  could  bear  a  child  only  once  in 
nine  months,  he  stated  merely  the  superficial  side  of 
the  question.  Much  more  significant  are  the  inner 
circumstances.  One  can  safely  say  that  misconduct 
on  the  wife's  part  strikes  deeper  into  the  relation 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  159 

than  that  of  the  husband  and  a  return  to  the  former 
condition  of  her  home  life  is  for  her  practically  im- 
possible. 

We  must  not  forget  that  in  law  adultery  requires 
an  actual  union  of  the  genitals.  Such  a  fact  is  diffi- 
cult to  establish  so  that  in  practice  most  complaints 
are  brought  under  that  paragraph  which  refers  to 
anything  which  can  be  summed  up  as  indecencies. 
As  long  as  this  actual  union  of  genitals  can  not  be 
shown  the  law  does  not  admit  adultery  no  matter 
how  great  perversions  may  have  been  shown.  In 
fact  divorce  cannot  be  obtained  for  perversities  on 
the  husband's  part,  in  comparison  with  which 
adultery  would  be  respectable. 

One  of  the  commonest  causes  of  adultery  and  di- 
vorce is  the  practice  of  coitus  interruptus.  The  de- 
sire to  limit  the  number  of  children  to  the  economic 
means  or  social  convenience  leads  to  this  method  of 
contraception  which  has  the  advantage  that  it  re- 
quires no  previous  preparation  or  expense.  In  this 
connection  we  must  regard  the  attempt  to  limit  the 
sale  of  those  articles  which  have  this  contraceptive 
function  as  not  only  abortive  since  such  sale  is  neg- 
ligible in  comparison  with  the  practice  of  coitus  in- 
terruptus, but  also  as  foolish  and  dangerous  in  so 
far  as  the  same  means  are  necessary  for  combatting 
venereal  disease. 

In  talking  with  many  women  I  have  been  struck 
by  the  fact  that  the  married  troubles  first  began 
after  the  birth  of  one  or  two  children.  Careful 


160  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

questioning  soon  brought  out  the  fact  that  this 
was  the  time  when  coitus  interruptus  was  first  es- 
tablished as  a  regular  habit.  The  effect  of  this 
practice  on  the  nervous  system  of  one  or  both  of  the 
partners  is  unmistakable.  The  watchfulness  re- 
quired to  interrupt  at  the  right  time  puts  into  play 
a  large  number  of  emotions  which  make  impossible 
that  feeling  of  complete  detumescence  which  is  neces- 
sary. More  distressing  is  the  case  of  the  wife,  who 
is  usually  left  unsatisfied  and  who  very  probably 
then  begins  to  seek  in  masturbation  the  complete 
gratification  which  was  denied  her.  The  physical 
irritation  as  well  as  the  nervous  distress  forms  a 
background  for  the  whole  of  the  married  life  and 
results  in  constantly  increasing  irritability  which 
ultimately  lands  the  unfortunates  in  the  divorce 
court.  At  times,  I  have  been  able  to  restore  the 
happiness  of  a  threatened  family  by  a  suitable  regu- 
lation of  their  sex  life.  In  this  same  connection  a 
recent  court  decision  is  of  importance.  It  was  ad- 
judged that  the  refusal  of  the  wife  to  allow  coitus 
without  the  use  of  contraceptive  measures  should 
be  held  as  grounds  for  granting  a  divorce.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  the  use  of  such  measures  to  prevent 
divorce  would  seem  of  more  importance  than  the 
encouragement  of  coitus  interruptus. 

With  great  frequency  the  sexuality  expresses  it- 
self in  perverse  forms  which  give  rise  to  the  com- 
plaint. Such  perversions  as  long  as  they  are  of  a 
heterosexual  kind  are  as  common  in  marriage  as 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  161 

coitus  interruptus.  Sooner  or  later  every  one  of 
them  is  met  with  in  practice.  While  such  facts  are 
communicated  to  the  attorney  [and  the  physician] 
they  are  seldom  presented  in  court  because  they 
are  not  actionable  in  law.  It  is  impossible  to  ob- 
tain witnesses  to  such  misconduct  and  therefore  such 
facts  cannot  be  successfully  put  in  evidence.  Never- 
theless they  are  common  enough  that  marriage 
among  other  things  may  be  regarded  as  the  breeding 
ground  of  this  kind  of  perversity.  Most  frequent  of 
all  are  cunnilingus  and  fellatio.  These  practices  are 
very  common  in  the  less  worthy  marriages.  Even  if 
a  good  deal  of  hypocrisy  is  present  at  times  in  the 
wife's  complaint  and  she  is  herself  frequently  quite 
as  perverted  as  her  husband,  nevertheless  one  can 
but  feel  sorry  for  the  physically  delicate  and  refined 
woman  who  is  forced  to  such  loss  of  self-respect 
when  the  law  does  not  allow  her  any  relief  whatever. 

Twenty-five  years  ago  cunnilingus  was  described 
as  a  perversion  imported  from  France  which  had 
not  then  attacked  the.  healthy  body  of  our  people. 
To-day  it  is  widely  practiced  in  all  classes  of  so- 
ciety from  the  lowest  to  the  highest.  In  one  of  my 
cases  a  young  farmer's  wife  complained  that  her 
husband  used  this  method  exclusively,  even  stop- 
ping her  in  the  midst  of  her  daily  work  in  order  to 
gratify  his  lust.  In  another  case  the  husband  com- 
plained that  his  wife  would  allow  no  other  form 
of  gratification. 

Sadism  and  masochism  are  also  exceedingly  com- 


162  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

mon.  Biting  and  scratching  are  the  most  usual 
forms,  and  in  one  of  my  cases  the  physicians  dis- 
covered numberless  tooth  marks  on  the  thighs  of 
the  wife  where  the  husband  had  expressed  his 
sadistic  tendencies.  Another  sadist  used  to  shave 
his  wife's  pubic  hair  and  then  have  intercourse 
when  the  friction  of  the  new  growth  caused  her  ex- 
ceeding pain.  I  have  also  met  many  masochistic 
cases.  One  woman  induced  her  husband  to  have 
relations  with  one  of  her  friends  in  her  presence 
which  raised  her  to  a  pitch  of  highest  excitement. 
In  another  case  a  spiritually  eminent  but  wholly  per- 
verted man  used  to  place  his  wife  in  situations 
where  she  had  to  receive  advances  from  other  men 
which  proceedings  he  watched  through  a  special 
peep  hole  in  the  door,  afterwards  gratifying  him- 
self. I  believe  the  woman's  assertion  that  the  hus- 
band often  tried  to  induce  her  to  let  other  men  use 
her  while  he  looked  on,  but  that  she  declined. 

I  have  not  met  any  case  of  bestiality  in  my  own 
practice,  but  one  is  recorded  in  the  Archiv  fiir 
Kriminalanthropolgie  where  a  man  forced  his  wife 
to  submit  to  this  horrible  perversion. 

Less  frequent  than  the  heterosexual  perversions 
are  the  homosexual  variety,  at  least  as  factors  in 
divorce.  When  a  homosexual  marries,  the  perver- 
sion remains  and  if  it  never  becomes  a  public  scandal 
it  merely  means  that  it  remains  buried  in  the  bosom 
of  the  family.  I  cannot  agree  with  those  writers  who 
assert  that  a  homosexual  marriage  with  a  normal 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  163 

woman  can  be  happy.  I  recall  one  such  case  where 
ultimately  the  husband  committed  suicide  but  his 
wife  assured  me  that  their  life  was  very  unhappy. 
Still  less  frequently  the  homosexuality  of  the  wife 
leads  to  divorce.  Bisexuality  in  women  is  more 
easily  overcome  than  in  the  case  of  men  while  her 
passivity  in  the  sexual  act  makes  it  less  a  matter 
for  complaint.  I  had  one  case  where  the  wife  sub- 
mitted to  her  husband  but  obtained  her  own  pleasure 
from  cunnilingus  which  she  practiced  upon  a  woman 
friend. 

In  what  has  gone  before  I  have  tried  to  show  some 
of  the  relations  between  sexuality  and  divorce.  With 
one  exception  all  of  these  cases  are  from  my  own 
practice  though  I  have  naturally  picked  out  the 
more  striking  illustrations  of  the  vagaries  of  this 
impulse.  But  if  in  one  man's  practice  so  many  cases 
occur,  how  widely  diffused  must  be  the  causes  in 
question !  Schiller  spoke  of  that  gigantic  fate  which 
if  it  raises  a  man  up  also  destroys  him,  and  shall 
not  we  say  of  love  that  it  destroys  man  if  it  does 
not  elevate  him?  We  should  not  forget  the  great 
number  of  normal  happy  marriages  where  slight 
incongruities  are  adjusted  with  time  to  some  kind  of 
harmony.  But  for  the  rest,  one  part  drifts  into  the 
divorce  court,  another  is  held  together  by  social  or 
financial  reasons.  With  these  we  can  hope  for  im- 
provement only  from  a  better  training  in  discipline, 
more  knowledge  and  increased  culture.  Even  then 
the  incongruities  cannot  be  wholly  avoided,  nor  can 


164  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

the  perversions  and  degradations,  but  many  cases  of 
lifelong  unhappiness  could  be  avoided  by  a  better 
understanding  of  the  nature  and  possibilities  of  the 
sexual  impulse.  We  should  not  forget  that  the  re- 
cent unparalleled  prosperity  of  our  nation  has  bred 
luxuriousness  and  laziness.  May  the  present  great 
crisis  clear  the  air  and  refresh  us  with  those  primi- 
tive virtues :  self  denial  and  self  control. 


THE  LAW  AGAINST  ABOKTION  —  THE 

GREATEST  CRIME  ON  THE  STATUTE 

BOOKS* 

BY  DR.  FRITZ  WITTELS 

IN  every  field  of  research  from  penology  to  elec- 
trical science  we  notice  a  wonderful  advance.  Re- 
formers and  savants  are  bent  on  making  the  world 
perfect.  There  is  a  shame,  however,  which  cries  to 
heaven  and  which  they  could  suppress  with  a  stroke 
of  the  pen  if  they  only  wished  to;  but  nothing  is 
farther  away  from  their  minds.  They  hear  the  wail 
of  tortured  flesh,  the  wail  that  rises  high  above  the 
silly  conclusions  of  dry  logic.  But  we  know  that 
they  have  ears  and  yet  they  hear  not. 

People  generally  divide  pregnancy  into  two  pe- 
riods, the  second  of  which  begins  when  the  mother 
first  becomes  aware  of  the  child's  motions.  That 
symptom  appears  the  more  momentous  to  simple 
souls,  as  it  usually  coincides  by  a  caprice  of  nature 
with  the  exact  middle  of  the  pregnancy  period.  The 
church  believes  that  from  that  day  on  the  fetus 

*  The  Editor  would  say  that  the  greatest  crime,  the  greatest 
piece  of  asininity  in  our  statute  books  is  not  the  law  against  abor- 
tion, but  the  law  against  the  prevention  of  conception.  And  to 
think,  that  both  are  considered  crimes  of  exactly  the  same  char- 
acter, with  exactly  the  same  punishment  for  both! 

165 


166  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

possesses  life  and  a  soul.  But  the  church  errs  in 
both  directions.  For  us,  life  is  wherever  there  is 
protoplasm;  and  as  far  as  a  soul,  that  is,  mental 
consciousness,  is  concerned,  the  fetus  is  totally  lack- 
ing in  it,  not  only  until  the  hour  of  birth,  but  for 
quite  some  time  afterwards. 

If  these  pages  were  merely  intended  as  a  criti- 
cism of  the  statute  against  abortion,  I  could  very 
well  stop  right  now.  What  is  life?  What  is  soul? 
Is  the  protoplasm  devoid  of  consciousness  and  per- 
ception? All  this  is  purely  speculative  and  therefore 
unreliable.  Neither  can  we  rest  satisfied  with 
Aristotle's  precept:  " Abortion  is  licit  or  illicit  ac- 
cording to  whether  the  fetus  has  or  has  not  life  and 
perception." 

The  problem  cannot  be  solved  on  the  basis  of  life 
and  perception  for  we  kill  all  kinds  of  animals  en- 
dowed with  those  two  attributes.  The  question  is 
whether  the  fetus  is  or  isn't  a  human  being.  The 
fetus  is  of  course  a  potential  man  and  while  its  re- 
moval cannot  be  likened  to  the  murder  of  a  human 
being,  at  the  same  time,  considering  the  possibili- 
ties the  fetus  holds,  abortion  can  be  construed  as  a 
crime.  That  crime  would  assume  more  gravity  with 
every  added  month  of  pregnancy  and  become  a  very 
serious  thing  when  the  fetus  is  on  the  point  of  ac- 
quiring an  individual  life. 

But  even  spermatozoa  and  ova  are  potential  hu- 
man beings  and  from  that  point  of  view  we  would 
be  justified  in  forbidding  the  sale  of  mechanical  pre- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  167 

ventives  or  the  practice  of  coitus  interruptus.  And 
in  fact  ancient  statutes  punished  masturbation, 
coitus  interruptus  and  the  like  with  death.  There 
was  consistency  in  that  attempt  to  protect  both 
actual  and  potential  life.  But  this  type  of  logic 
leads  to  absurd  conclusions.  It  is  obvious  affecta- 
tion to  protect  so  carefully  the  spermatozoon  and 
ovum.  Of  the  thousands  of  germs  sent  forth  by  one 
ejaculation  no  more  than  one  can  fertilize  the  ovum 
and  if  that  one  fails  there  are  millions  of  others  in 
reserve. 

The  same  can  be  said  of  the  ova  of  which  an  ovary 
contains  some  70,000.  Basing  our  conclusions  upon 
these  figures  some  one  might  say  that  the  protection 
of  the  embryo  goes  against  the  natural  law  of  over- 
production. The  progress  of  civilization  suffices  to 
insure  overpopulation  through  infant  care,  hygiene 
and  pacifism;  it  is  unequal,  however,  to  the  task  of 
feeding  that  surplus  population.  Rabbits  breed 
much  more  rapidly  than  men,  but  severe  winters, 
hunters,  foxes,  and  hawks  correct  readily  nature's 
excessive  production.  While  I  would  not  go  so  far 
as  to  call  unnatural  the  protection  accorded  to  the 
weak,  I  would  apply  that  adjective  to  the  protection 
lavished  upon  the  fetus.  For  after  all,  what  is  the 
embryo  f  It  is  at  first  an  animal  form  of  the  lowest 
order;  then  through  a  series  of  transformations  it 
assumes  a  pisciform  shape  with  a  fish's  gills;  at 
the  end  of  the  third  month  it  looks  like  a  grotesque 
caricature  of  a  man  some  9  centimeters  long.  Thus 


168  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

it  follows,  protean-like,  the  great  evolution  which  in 
the  course  of  millions  of  years  has  progressed  from 
the  unicellular  form  to  the  vertebrates  and  man. 

While  the  embryo  progresses  from  day  to  day  it 
remains  until  the  hour  of  its  birth  and  long  after- 
wards inferior  in  development  to  any  intelligent 
adult  mammal.  We  need  not  recall  the  old  story 
of  the  naturalist  who  said  he  would  never  again 
shoot  another  chimpanzee  because  he  couldn't  for- 
get the  look  in  the  dying  primate's  eyes;  just  com- 
pare the  expression  in  your  dog's  eyes  with  the  look 
in  the  eyes  of  a  new  born  baby,  of  that  waxlike,  in- 
significant imitation  of  an  unborn  soul.  As  long  as 
all  the  hereditary  mental  attributes  contained  in  the 
embryo  are  not  awakened  by  personal  experience, 
they  are  as  non-existent  as  fire  in  a  furnace  filled 
with  wood  and  coal  but  to  which  no  match  has  been 
applied.  The  motions  of  the  embryo  are  not  evi- 
dence of  its  mental  life;  neither  is  its  birth;  the 
transition  from  quab  to  man  is  so  gradual  that  ex- 
perimental psychology  cannot  state  where  the  one 
begins  and  where  the  other  ends.  Legislators  insist 
on  rigorous  time  limits  and  select  them  arbitrarily; 
there  is  an  age  limit  for  majority,  for  criminal  re- 
sponsibility, there  is  a  school  age,  etc.  Law  differen- 
tiates the  status  of  the  born  and  the  unborn  child; 
the  born  child  has  rights  of  its  own ;  the  unborn  child 
is  only  "portio  vel  pars  viscerum  mulieris"  (a  part 
of  the  woman's  viscera). 

If  the  unborn  is  not  a  human  being  it  is  entitled  to 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  169 

no  legal  protection,  and  if  it  receives  that  protection 
it  must  receive  it  for  very  special  reasons.  The  child 
may  be  considered  the  legal  possession  of  its  parents. 
But  here  again  nothing  is  more  likely  to  fluctuate 
than  the  valuation  of  such  a  possession.  A  long- 
wished-for  rich  heir  is  something  quite  different 
from  a  poor  devil's  twelfth  child.  It  will  never  do 
to  characterize  all  the  people  who,  for  social,  hy- 
gienic or  other  reasons,  do  not  desire  offspring  as 
unnatural  parents;  neither  should  we  call  women 
unwilling  to  go  through  the  pregnancy  period  "de- 
natured mothers";  for  they  are  not  mothers.  The 
child  in  its  mother's  womb  cannot  be  an  object  of 
affection.  The  mother  doesn't  even  know  how  it 
looks ;  if  she  did  she  could  never  feel  any  tenderness 
for  an  embryo  with  baggy,  protruding  eyes,  gills  and 
an  allantoid;  she  imagines  of  course  a  little  blue 
eyed  angel  in  a  white  cap.  The  mere  presence  of 
the  embryo  encased  in  the  womb  may  have  a  reflex 
action  and  inspire  in  some  mystical  way  a  feeling 
of  mother  love.  But  mysticism  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  determination  of  a  legal  status. 

The  characters  of  the  embryo  entitle  it  to  no  pro- 
tection until  it  is  able  to  live  independently  from  its 
mother's  organism.  This  is  what  legislators  have 
overlooked.  The  courts  had  to  pronounce  on  a  case 
of  abortion  in  the  eighth  month  which  should  rather 
have  been  called  an  artificial  attempt  to  induce 
premature  parturition;  for  the  child  survived. 
Therefore  the  court  only  imposed  a  light  sentence 


170  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

for  attempted  abortion.  And  yet  it  is  evident  that 
such  a  process  would  prove  highly  injurious  to  the 
physical  and  mental  development  of  the  child  and 
that  it  is  much  worse  to  bring  into  the  world  a 
rachitic  child  than  to  destroy  through  successful 
abortion  a  potential  man  which  is  after  all  a  mere 
aggregation  of  cells.  A  poet  has  said:  "A  man's 
destiny  is  so  much,  a  man's  life  is  so  little."  A 
potential  life  is  even  less.  .  .  . 

The  statute  against  abortion  aims  at  protecting 
the  pregnant  woman.  It  is  true  that  there  are  no 
safe  means  of  bringing  about  an  abortion  through 
internal  medication ;  for  all  the  substances  available 
for  that  purpose  are  poisonous.  Experienced  prac- 
titioners, however,  never  have  recourse  to  internal 
medication  but  rely  upon  surgical  intervention.  Such 
an  intervention  practiced  nowadays  by  an  experi- 
enced man  during  the  first  period  of  pregnancy  is 
much  less  fraught  with  danger  than  parturition  at 
the  end  of  the  normal  pregnancy.  In  the  hands 
of  a  bungler  the  operation  may  have  fatal  conse- 
quences; therefore  any  one  familiar  with  the  code 
of  penal  procedure  knows  that  the  statute  is  useless 
to  protect  mothers;  the  statute  relative  to  physical 
injury  as  it  now  stands,  or  perhaps  made  more 
stringent,  affords  them  all  the  protection  they  need. 

But  the  problem  must  be  considered  rather  in  the 
light  of  its  social  importance. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  171 

II 

In  the  beginning  there  was  murder ;  newborn  chil- 
dren were  put  to  death  when  not  wanted.  Lycurgus  's 
laws  not  only  legalized  infanticide  but  made  it  a 
duty  to  the  Spartans;  for  exposure  on  Mount  Tay- 
getos  was  infanticide  in  disguise.  That  disguise, 
however,  revealed  a  certain  repugnance  to  commit 
the  deed.  That  repugnance  is  apparent  in  many 
savage  tribes.  Only  few  choose  the  Jesuitic  make- 
shift of  exposure ;  they  prefer  to  resort  to  abortion. 
In  Borneo  it  has  been  observed  that  abortion  has  re- 
placed infanticide. 

How  could  primitive  tribes  without  commerce, 
industry  or  agriculture  allow  their  numbers  to  grow 
beyond  measure  ?  Could  they  be  expected  to  take  a 
loftier  stand  than  Aristotle,  who  said:  "The  num- 
ber of  children  must  be  determined  by  statutes,  and 
when  certain  groups  increase  unduly  abortion  must 
be  practiced"? 

Of  course  the  antiquity  didn't  know  what  we  call 
family  life.  The  State  brought  up,  educated  and 
fed  the  children  and  could  therefore  decide  how 
many  it  cared  to  provide  for.  No  State  can  say  at 
present:  Abortion  must  be  practiced.  It  might  at 
most  say :  Abortion  may  be  practiced.  In  reality  the 
State  says  that  abortion  cannot  be  practiced.  But 
the  enforcement  of  the  statute  is  far  from  general. 
In  wild  tribes  there  is  no  State  to  limit  or  select  the 
offspring.  Each  tribe  simply  does  away  with  its 


172  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

supernumerary  children.  When  a  social  conscience 
develops  which  sees  in  infanticide  a  great  injustice 
abortion  is  welcomed  as  a  much  needed  relief. 

The  next  step  is  an  exaggerated  use  of  this  relief. 
Among  the  Guyakooroos  of  Paraguay  all  women 
abort  themselves  until  they  reach  their  thirtieth 
year  after  which  they  begin  to  bear  children.  This 
system  leads  us  to  the  2-children  families  of  the 
Malthusians,  whereby  the  human  stock  neither  in- 
creases nor  decreases.  But  the  abuse  of  abortion 
soon  causes  a  diminution  of  the  racial  group  and 
defeats  its  own  purpose,  for  not  only  well  regu- 
lated States  but  tribes  or  hordes  at  once  take  meas- 
ures to  limit  the  number  of  abortions.  Abortion 
becomes  henceforth  a  matter  of  the  state,  or  at  least 
a  tribal  matter. 

It  happened  unfortunately  that  at  the  very  time 
when  the  Roman  stoics  were  ready  to  reconsider 
their  time-established  theory  of  indifference  in  the 
matter  of  abortion,  Christianity  forced  the  theory  of 
' '  anima  rationalis ' '  into  the  pagan  mentality.  While 
the  church  is"  not  interested  in  saving  the  nation  from 
depopulation  or  even  in  saving  the  life  of  the  em- 
bryo, she  is  interested  in  baptizing  souls  and  in  sav- 
ing them  from  damnation.  But  this  is  mere 
theological  metaphysics  which  should  not  influence 
legislators. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  society's  rights  there 
are  two  questions  to  consider:  Is  abortion  likely 
to  prevent  an  increase  of  the  population?  And  if  so4 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  173 

is  the  increase  in  the  population  due  to  the  opera- 
tion of  abortion  laws  of  any  value  to  the  community? 

The  first  question  may  sound  paradoxical.  If  any- 
thing seems  to  curtail  the  increase  of  the  population 
it  is  precisely  abortion,  the  extent  of  which  statistics 
do  not  reveal  for  it  may  be  practiced  a  hundred  or  a 
thousand  times  without  coming  to  the  notice  of  the 
authorities.  We  may  risk  the  statement  that  in 
civilized  nations  abortion  is  in  inverse  ratio  to 
infant  mortality.  Ages  ago  people  killed  their  chil- 
dren, later  on  they  resorted  to  abortion,  and  now 
that  abortion  is  forbidden  by  law,  infanticide  is  again 
on  the  lurk. 

For  nothing  is  easier  than  to  do  away  with  a 
child;  leave  it  naked  near  a  window  on  a  cold  day 
and  you  soon  have  a  fine  case  of  inflammation  of  the 
lungs.  Or  children  are  boarded  out  at  3  florins  a 
month;  if  their  poor  little  stomachs  can't  stand  po- 
tatoes and  cabbage,  who  can  compel  the  woman  who 
takes  care  of  them  to  buy  milk  for  them  out  of  the 
3  florins  she  receives  and  which  also  covers  care  and 
shelter?  Or  there  is  scarlet  fever  in  a  village.  Well 
children  are  brought  to  the  infected  houses  and  put 
in  bed  with  the  sick  ones.  .  .  .  Many  are  the  forms 
of  infanticide  in  disguise ;  it  is  not  necessary  to  hit 
the  child  with  a  hammer,  or  poison  it  or  burn  it  to 
death.  The  criminal  midwife  may  be  detected  but 
the  meshes  of  the  law's  net  will  never  be  fine  enough 
to  catch  those  guilty  of  the  practices  I  just  men- 
tioned. 


174  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

We  must  realize  that  it  is  not  only  a  few  hardened 
criminals  who  are  capable  of  harming  a  suckling 
infant  or  an  uncomprehending  child. 

A  servant  girl  with  child,  who  does  not  dare  to 
have  herself  aborted,  may  be  driven  to  desperation ; 
when  she  strangles  her  baby  she  simply  acts  in  self- 
defense  against  society  which  prevented  her  from 
getting  rid  of  the  child  in  a  harmless  way. 

The  little  official  blessed  with  too  many  children 
and  crushed  down  by  that  blessing  who  resorts  to 
certain  measures  in  order  to  avoid  further  blessings 
is  simply  trying  to  protect  his  miserable  existence. 

All  the  factors  that  curtail  an  increase  of  the 
population,  such  as  infant  mortality,  emigration,  ob- 
stacles to  marriage,  abortion,  can  all  be  traced  to  one 
common  cause :  Poverty.  If  society  wishes  to  see  the 
population  increase  it  must  declare  war  on  poverty. 
To  forbid  abortion  is  as  foolish  as  forbidding  the 
children  to  die.  It  creates  criminals ;  not  only  child 
murderers;  for  it  opens  up  a  terrible  possibility: 
certain  people  forced  by  society  to  murder  their 
children  may  become  so  depraved  by  that  awful 
necessity  that  they  may  learn  to  disregard  as  com- 
pletely the  lives  of  adults. 

In  other  words,  abortion  does  not  curtail  the  in- 
crease of  the  population  as  much  as  is  commonly 
believed;  the  children  that  are  not  wanted  will  be 
in  some  way  or  other  allowed  to  die.  And  if  they 
only  could  die.  In  many  cases,  however,  it  isn't 
death  that  awaits  them  but  poverty  and  want,  rickets, 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  175 

tuberculosis,  anemia,  suffering  in  a  thousand  forms, 
sorrow  and  misery.  We  would  recommend  to  the 
legislators  a  round  of  the  hospitals,  especially  chil- 
dren's hospitals. 

In  its  fight  against  abortion  Society  has  two  pow- 
erful allies :  capitalism  and  the  church.  The  church 
at  least  is  honest  about  it.  Children  must  be  born  or 
else  they  cannot  be  baptized.  Capitalism  is  more 
hypocritical.  The  capitalists  themselves  have  as 
few  children  as  they  wish;  else  many  a  physician 
would  lose  his  valuable  practice.  But  the  wives  of 
the  poor,  of  the  disinherited  must  bear  children  until 
children  are  as  numerous  as  the  sands  of  the  sea, 
they  must  bear  hundreds  of  thousands  of  slaves  who 
will  make  the  wheels  turn  in  capitalism's  factories, 
increase  pauperism  and  depreciate  the  value  of  labor 
and  of  human  material.  The  church  needs  Christians, 
militarism  needs  recruits,  capitalism  needs  slaves, 
the  three  of  them  need  defenceless  masses. 

We  see  now  that  the  increase  of  the  population 
guaranteed  by  the  statute  against  abortion  is  not 
such  a  desirable  thing  after  all  for  a  democratic  and 
enlightened  society. 

Not  only  the  abortion  law  should  be  removed  from 
the  statute  books  but  the  following  paragraph  should 
be  substituted  for  it.  "No  woman  shall  be  forced 
to  bear  to  term  against  her  will  the  fruits  of  her 
body."  Those  who,  scorned  to-day  by  the  world, 
demand  such  a  change  in  the  statutes  are  the 
prophets  of  to-morrow. 


176  SEXUAL  TEUTHS 

HI 

Besides  the  purely  illegal  operations,  there  are 
many  cases  in  which  abortion  is  a  medical  necessity. 
Not  so  long  ago  there  were  only  one  or  two  diseases 
in  which  abortion  was  indicated,  besides,  of  course, 
the  cases  in  which  pregnancy  and  parturition  were 
made  dangerous  by  material  obstacles.  We  know 
to-day  that  a  large  number  of  chronic  diseases  are 
unfavorably  influenced  by  pregnancy,  parturition 
and  confinement.  Not  only  the  mother's  life  but  her 
health  as  well  is  of  more  value  than  the  life  of  the 
embryo.  Even  for  a  healthy  and  powerful  woman 
parturition  is  not  without  danger.  Too  little  atten- 
tion has  been  paid  to  the  added  risk  it  entails  for  a 
weak  or  ailing  woman. 

When  a  human  being  dies  he  is  relieved  of  all  ob- 
ligations ;  a  dead  man  or  woman  cannot  be  compelled 
to  pay  taxes  or  bear  children.  The  transition  from 
life  to  death,  however,  proceeds  by  infinitesimal 
stages ;  it  really  amounts  to  a  slow  death  that  goes 
by  a  hundred  names,  consumption,  cancer,  atrophy 
of  the  kidneys,  etc. 

From  people  who  are  thus  slowly  drifting  towards 
death,  society  cannot  expect  much.  In  cases  of  in- 
curable tuberculosis  physicians  generally  refuse  to 
bring  about  abortion  in  the  hope  of  saving  at  least 
one  life,  the  child's,  since  the  mother  is  doomed  to 
die.  If  consumptives  knew  how  near  death  they  are 
they  would  laugh  at  the  abortion  law.  What  are  five 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  177 

or  ten  years  in  jail  to  one  who  has  not  five  months 
to  live?  And  if  the  pregnant  consumptive  knew 
what  harm  parturition  and  confinement  will  hring 
on  her  she  could  justly  curse  her  physician.  How 
can  a  woman  in  whose  body  life  and  death  are 
wrestling  be  compelled  to  help  the  race  survive, 
unless  she  herself  so  wishes,  a  thing  which  frequently 
happens  ?  If  we  lived  in  Greece  or  any  other  country 
anxious  to  breed  a  good  race,  consumptives  would 
probably  not  be  permitted  to  bear  children;  while 
consumption  is  not  hereditary,  a  weak  constitution, 
a  tuberculous  tendency  can  be  transmitted  to  the  off- 
spring and  for  most  people  the  final  results  are 
pretty  much  the  same. 

It  is  impossible  to  draw  a  line  between  curable  and 
incurable  consumption.  Under  favorable  circum- 
stances mild  cases  are  curable;  severe  cases  are 
fatal;  medium  cases  terminate  either  in  cure  or 
death,  as  it  pleases  God.  But  the  law  is  the  law :  in- 
curable consumptives  must  bear  children. 

In  cases  of  curable  consumption  no  abortion  is 
practiced  in  the  second  half  of  the  pregnancy  period, 
for  at  that  stage  operative  intervention  would  be  as 
trying  to  the  patient  as  parturition.  Observations 
are  taken  during  the  first  half  of  the  pregnancy  pe- 
riod to  determine  whether  the  disease  is  intensified 
by  pregnancy  (loss  of  weight,  etc.)  and  if  such  is  the 
case  the  operation  is  performed.  But  that  expectant 
attitude  is  fraught  with  danger,  as  a  curable  case 
may  be  thus  transformed  into  an  incurable  one. 


178  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

But  the  main  danger  for  consumptives  arises  dur- 
ing the  confinement  period.  Strangely  enough, 
while  we  protect  consumptives  against  all  noxious 
influences,  prevent  them  from  working,  keeping  late 
hours  or  indulging  in  any  excess,  we  will  not  relieve 
them  from  the  duty  of  increasing  the  population. 
Abortion  should  be  indicated  in  every  case  of  tuber- 
culosis, even  if  the  patient  should  express  the  wish 
to  bear  a  child;  for  it  has  been  observed  that  many 
a  healthy  woman  contracts  tuberculosis  during  the 
pregnancy  or  the  confinement  period.  No  hard  and 
fast  rule  can  be  formulated,  however,  and  physicians 
should  be  allowed  to  use  their  judgment  as  individual 
cases  require. 

Pregnancy  affects  women  suffering  from  cardiac 
troubles  as  severely  as  it  does  consumptives.  A  pa- 
tient with  a  sick  heart  is  capable  of  very  little  exer- 
tion ;  there  is  no  exhausting  fever,  however,  resulting 
from  the  disease  and  while  complete  recovery  is 
doubtful  the  patient  has  a  good  chance  to  survive.  If 
we  divide  up  cardiac  cases  into  mild,  medium  and 
severe  ones  we  may  say  that  severe  cases  simply  can- 
not bear  the  natural  termination  of  the  pregnancy 
period,  as  the  patient's  heart  is  not  equal  to  the 
overexertion  it  implies.  Consequently  abortion  is 
absolutely  indicated  in  such  cases. 

Mild  cases  can  bear  the  physical  strain  of  preg- 
nancy, travail  and  confinement  but  not  without 
undergoing  more  or  less  injurious  after-effects 
which  may  or  may  not  be  permanent.  Medium  cases 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  179 

are  rendered  very  critical  by  the  strain  of  labor  and 
the  sudden  change  in  the  blood  pressure  consequent 
upon  parturition.  The  last  months  of  the  pregnancy 
period  may  also  bring  about  certain  disturbances 
which  usually  compel  the  pregnant  woman  to  spend 
that  time  in  bed.  The  official  rule  in  this  case  is  to 
wait  and  only  interfere  when  fatal  disturbances  are 
feared. 

This  might  do  very  well  when  the  patient,  fully 
acquainted  with  the  danger  she  runs,  insists  on  bear- 
ing the  child,  but  such  a  rule  is  absurd  when  the 
cardiac  patient  does  not  want  any  more  children 
either  because  she  is  unmarried  or  because  she  has 
several  children  already. 

Besides  pointing  out  that  the  dangers  of  child- 
birth can  never  be  estimated  in  advance  and  that 
sudden  death  is  always  possible  in  cardiac  cases,  we 
must  repeat  what  we  said  in  speaking  of  tubercu- 
lous patients :  we  deprive  the  woman  suffering  from 
cardiac  trouble  from  many  pleasures ;  she  must  not 
work,  she  must  not  walk  upstairs,  very  often  she 
isn't  allowed  any  sexual  intercourse;  yet  we  demand 
from  her  that  she  brave  death  for  the  sake  of  a  little 
cluster  of  cells. 

In  this  connection  the  mentally  diseased  are  per- 
haps worse  off  than  all  the  other  sick  people.  Preg- 
nant or  recently  delivered  women  constitute  perhaps 
one-tenth  of  the  female  insane.  About  one  half  of 
them  finally  recover.  It  is  hard  to  say,  however, 
which  is  the  more  terrible,  a  curable  or  incurable 


180  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

psychosis.  The  fear  of  insanity  which  we  find  In 
the  mind  of  every  cured  insane  person  is  probably 
the  most  heartrending  thing  on  earth;  it  is  prob- 
ably worse  than  insanity  itself,  for  the  insane  are 
not  aware  of  their  condition. 

Consider  on  the  one  hand  the  melancholia  which 
often  accompanies  pregnancy  and  which  leads  the 
patient  to  make  repeated  attempts  at  taking  her  own 
life  (one  of  which  is  bound  to  succeed),  and  on  the 
other  hand  remember  the  current  theory  according 
to  which  the  life  of  the  mother  is  more  valuable  than 
that  of  the  embryo;  wouldn't  you  think  that  in  such 
cases  abortion  should  be  performed  at  once?  But 
for  the  sake  of  the  little  Christian  to  be  born,  of  the 
slave  to  be,  the  pregnant  mother  will  be  kept  in  her 
mental  darkness  and  watched  by  a  horde  of  guar- 
dians until  one  day  she  plays  a  trick  on  them  and 
hangs  herself  from  the  window  bolt. 

In  certain  cases  psychiatrists  do  not  dare  to 
intervene  to  save  the  mental  health  of  the  patient 
because  they  are  not  positively  sure  that  a  psychosis 
will  declare  itself.  Of  course  no  one  can  be  posi- 
tively sure  of  such  a  thing  but  a  psychosis  can  be 
foreseen  in  many  cases ;  for  instance  when  a  woman 
has  suffered  mental  disturbances  in  previous  preg- 
nancies or  when  she  shows  visible  symptoms  of  in- 
cipient mania  which  may  overwhelm  her  while  she 
will  be  nursing.  But  hygiene  of  the  soul  does  not 
yet  exist  as  a  science. 

An  awful  fear  runs  through  all  minds,  the  fear  of 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  181 

conception.  Many  marriages  are  simply  poisoned 
by  that  phobia;  our  much  vaunted  family  life  is 
transformed  by  it  into  a  grim  illusion.  The  young 
people  who,  restrained  by  the  fear  of  venereal  dis- 
ease, have  led  ascetic  lives  and  pinned  their  hope 
on  matrimony  have  their  illusions  shattered  ruth- 
lessly by  the  fear  of  conception.  The  various  means 
employed  to  prevent  conception  ruin  our  nerves, 
bring  about  neuroses  of  every  description,  cause 
anxiety  and  depression.*  We  must  either  bring  into 
the  world  more  children  than  we  can  take  care  of, 
or  resort  to  abominable  subterfuges  which  are  hard- 
ly less  unpleasant  than  castration. 

It  is  only  in  intercourse  with  prostitutes  that  a 
man  forgets  his  anxiety  about  conception;  and  that 
it  is  why  prostitution  represents  to  many  men  the 
highest  means  of  gratification.  Is  this  the  result 
legislators  meant  to  obtain! 

We  are  always  speaking  of  the  hunger  urge;  we 
never  speak  of  the  sex  urge ;  and  yet  the  sexual  urge 
is  not  by  any  means  less  insistent  than  hunger. 

Many  a  man  who  for  fear  of  begetting  children 
foregoes  the  gratification  of  his  sexual  desires  goes 
and  gets  drunk.  Here  we  touch  upon  one  of  the  main 
causes  of  alcoholism.  Of  course  the  same  man  will, 
when  drunk  and  incapable  of  weighing  the  conse- 
quences, beget  children;  this  is  one  of  nature's  grim 

*  On  this  point  the  editor  begs  to  differ  with  the  author.  Only 
coitus  interruptus  can  be  blamed  for  the  above  enumerated  troubles. 
— W.  J.  R. 


182  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

jokes,  a  well  contrived  vicious  circle.  The  fact  re- 
mains that  the  dammed  up  current  of  sexual  desire 
goes  to  swell  the  stream  of  alcoholism.  And  sana- 
toria for  alcoholics  are  not  the  proper  solution  of 
the  question. 

While  the  number  of  cases  in  which  physicians 
are  legally  allowed  to  practice  abortion  is  steadily 
growing,  it  is  by  far  too  restricted.  But  physicians 
who  do  not  care  for  the  law  can  invoke  many  excuses 
whenever  they  wish  to  induce  an  abortion.  They 
may  pretend  that  hemorrhages  had  set  in;  nobody 
is  in  a  position  to  disprove  the  fact  afterward ;  not 
even  the  woman  on  whom  the  operation  was  per- 
formed; or  there  was  a  catarrh  of  the  apices  which 
is  now  completely  cured;  or  the  patient  had  pro- 
duced a  bottle  of  urine  containing  a  heavy  propor- 
tion of  albumin  pointing  to  a  terrific  inflammation 
of  the  kidneys ;  and  the  doctor  was  not  supposed  to 
know  that  the  urine  had  been  passed  by  some  one 
else ;  or  there  was  stubborn  nausea.  The  abortion 
law  is  a  pliant  toy  in  the  hands  of  a  physician. 

Do  not  try  to  tell  us  that  few  physicians  are  con- 
scienceless enough  to  resort  to  such  stratagems  and 
that  the  abortion  law  at  least  prevents  the  majority 
of  physicians  from  indulging  in  such  malpractice. 
For  when  a  woman  has  been  refused  treatment  at 
the  hands  of  a  conscientious  physician  she  goes  to  a 
midwife  or  some  other  even  less  experienced  prac- 
titioner or  she  tries  to  relieve  herself  with  the  help 
of  poisonous  substances,  or  she  drives  a  penholder 


SEXUAL  TKUTHS  183 

or  a  knitting  needle  or  even  a  knife  into  her  genital 
canal  and  either  kills  herself  or  maims  herself  for 
life. 

Society  cannot  prevent  abortion;  it  can  only  drive 
the  poor  women  (for  the  wealthy  ones  needn't 
worry,  they  needn't  hunt  the  side  streets  in  search 
of  dirty  midwives)  into  the  hands  of  scoundrels  who 
injure  them  for  life.  BUT  THE  EEAL  SCOUNDKEL  IN 

THE  CASE,  THE  ARCH-SCOUNDKEL,  IS  SOCIETY. 

The  hypocrisy  of  it  all!  The  physician  who,  op- 
erating in  a  private  sanatorium,  has  just  cheated  the 
country  of  one  citizen  makes  it  up  in  his  free  clinic : 
here  is  a  woman  in  labor;  her  pelvis  is  too  narrow; 
the  child  could  only  be  taken  out  by  piecemeal.  A 
cesarean  operation  could  save  the  child's  life,  but 
her  permission  must  be  obtained  first;  and  it  is 
generally  refused.  "Why  should  a  woman,  unmar- 
ried perhaps,  risk  her  life  for  the  sake  of  a  child  she 
never  wanted?  The  clinicians  know  better.  They 
can  wait.  And  they  let  her  writhe  in  agony  for 
hours  or  for  days;  until  she  loses  her  nerve  and 
finally  consents;  in  fact,  she  begs  them  to  operate 
.  .  .  and  the  child's  life  is  saved.  Words  fail  us 
when  we  are  confronted  with  such  a  horror. 


IV 

Here  are  then  the  conclusions  we  have  reached : 
The  characteristics  of  the  embryo  do  not  justify 
the  legal  protection  it  receives. 


184  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

The  increase  in  population  due  to  the  existence  of 
the  abortion  law  is  not  as  considerable  as  it  would 
appear  at  first  glance;  nor  is  such  an  increase  de- 
sirable for  society. 

The  abortion  law  fosters  child  murder. 

The  medico-legal  exceptions  to  the  abortion  law 
are  too  few. 

Pregnant  women  are  driven  by  this  law  into  the 
hands  of  conscienceless  bunglers. 

The  fear  of  conception  poisons  much  of  the  enjoy- 
ment of  life  and  fosters  the  spread  of  alcoholism. 

We  hear  much  twaddle  about  ' '  the  century  of  the 
child"  and  the  protection  of  infants.  The  best  pro- 
tection for  the  new-born  would  be  a  liberal  abortion 
law.*  All  the  other  measures,  charity,  free  milk, 
orphan  asylums,  children's  hospitals  are  only 
palliatives  of  doubtful  value.  They  are  like  the 
wind  that  can  blow  out  a  small  fire  but  fans  a  big 
one  into  a  huge  conflagration. 

*  Here  again  I  would  say :  A  liberal  prevention  of  conception 
law.— W.  J.  E. 


COITUS    INTERKUPTUS    AS    A    CAUSE    OF 
NERVOUS   DISEASE 

BY  DR.  L.  LOWENFELD 

THE  use  of  anti-conceptive  measures  constitutes  at 
the  present  day  one  of  the  most  regrettable  condi- 
tions of  sexual  life.  I  call  this  condition  regrettable 
because  everything  which  interferes  with  the  normal 
performance  of  the  sexual  act  is  bound  to  have  bad 
consequences ;  in  fact  the  mere  feeling  that  one  can- 
not gratify  one 's  sexual  instinct  without  taking  pre- 
cautions against  possible  consequences  introduces  a 
baleful  psychic  element  into  one's  sexual  life. 

Sexual  abstinence  cannot  be  relied  upon  for  the 
limitation  of  offspring,  for  sexual  abstinence  is  not 
easily  maintained  in  married  life,  requires  a  great 
amount  of  will  power  or  of  religious  faith,  and  reacts 
unfavorably  on  one's  health. 

The  use  of  anti-conceptive  means  has  not  the  same 
consequences  for  both  sexes.  While  it  often  saves 
the  woman  from  many  dangers  to  her  life  and  health, 
it  does  not  in  any  way  benefit  the  man's  health. 

In  order  to  estimate  correctly  the  influence  which 
anti-conceptive  means  exert  on  the  health  of  the 
individual,  we  must  not  confine  ourselves  to  a  study 
of  cases  in  which  they  were  resorted  to  upon  the 

185 


186  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

physician's  advice  on  account  of  some  sexual  dis- 
order. We  must  inquire  about  the  frequency  of  in- 
tercourse, the  age  of  the  mates  and  the  kind  of  pre- 
ventives used. 

Bearing  in  mind  all  those  details  one  comes  to  the 
conclusion  that,  generally  speaking,  preventives  sel- 
dom cause  any  serious  physical  or  mental  distur- 
bances and  that  such  disturbances  when  observed 
are  to  be  traced  to  some  special  means  of  prevention. 

Man  only  has  at  his  disposition  the  condom  and 
coitus  interruptus.  It  is  an  exaggeration  to  say 
that  the  condom  is  a  cobweb  against  disease  and  an 
armor  against  pleasure.  Eobust  men  do  not  mind 
its  use,  but  weaker  men  are  put  to  a  good  deal  of 
extra  effort  by  the  fact  that  it  blunts  in  a  measure 
the  sensitiveness  of  the  penis.  Besides,  as  far  as  the 
prevention  of  conception  is  concerned  the  condom 
is  a  source  of  frequent  disappointment.  I  cannot 
say,  however,  that  I  have  ever  observed  any  ill  ef- 
fects from  its  use.  The  practice  of  coitus  interruptus 
has  more  serious  consequences.  Some  men  can  prac- 
tice it  for  ten,  twelve  or  fifteen  years  without  bad 
results ;  some  men  show  after  one  year  or  even  sooner 
nervous  disturbances. 

The  woman  has  a  larger  choice  of  preventives  at 
her  disposal,  and  new  ones  are  being  devised  con- 
tinually by  chemists. 

Chemical  preventives  destined  to  kill  the  sperma- 
tozoa and  introduced  into  the  vagina  in  the  form  of 
suppositories,  tablets  or  powder  have  not  to  my 


SEXUAL  TKUTHS  187 

knowledge  produced  bad  effects.  The  same  can  be 
said  of  mechanical  preventives  such  as,  for  instance, 
sponges.  On  the  other  hand  I  have  no  doubt  but  the 
continued  use  of  a  pessary  may  bring  about  local 
inflammation  and  a  leucorrheal  discharge. 

The  use  of  condoms  by  the  man  is  in  no  way 
detrimental  to  the  woman's  health.*  Neither  is  the 
practice  of  coitus  interruptus.  If  the  man  is  able 
to  continue  the  act  long  enough  to  allow  the  woman 
to  have  an  orgasm  she  is  not  affected  by  the  with- 
drawal of  the  man's  organ.  If  the  man's  powers, 
however,  are  insufficient  to  assure  the  woman's  grati- 
fication, then  coitus  interruptus  is  bound  to  become 
for  her  a  source  of  nervous  troubles.  The  time  at 
which  the  coitus  is  interrupted  plays  an  important 
part.  If  the  interruption  occurs  when  the  woman  is 
highly  aroused  and  is  on  the  point  of  having  an 
orgasm  and  if  the  sexual  act  is  performed  frequently 
without  affording  her  any  gratification  serious  trou- 
ble may  result,  for  the  congestion  of  the  uterus  sub- 
sides very  slowly  when  no  orgasm  takes  place.  In 
such  cases  coitus  interruptus  is  fraught  with  worse 
results  for  the  woman  than  for  the  man. 

Even  if  the  normal  act  is  interrupted,  ejaculation 
finally  relieves  the  man's  nervous  tension;  that  re- 
lief, however,  is  denied  to  the  woman  and  in  conse- 
quence her  health  is  affected  unfavorably.  The  re- 

*  The  editor  begs  to  disagree  with  this  statement.  See  the  Chap- 
ter Coitus  Condomatus,  in  his  Treatment  of  Sexual  Impotence  and 
Other  Sexual  Disorders  in  Men  and  Women. 


188  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

suits  are  not  as  serious  when  the  interruption  is  due 
to  the  weakness  of  the  man  or  takes  place  at  an 
earlier  phase  of  the  act,  especially  if  the  woman  is 
not  very  ardent  or  is  affected  with  sexual  anesthesia. 

In  this  connection  I  must  remark  that  certain 
women  whose  health  has  been  evidently  affected  by 
the  practice  of  coitus  interruptus  pretend  that  their 
desires  are  fully  gratified  by  that  form  of  inter- 
course. There  are  many  women,  however,  who  are 
loath  to  confess  that  their  desires  are  not  satisfied; 
and  then  again  some  women  who  are  left  ungratified 
by  coitus  interruptus  pretend  that  they  do  not  care 
for  sexual  intercourse. 

If  we  take  into  account  all  the  circumstances,  the 
sexual  and  nervous  constitution  of  the  mates,  the 
frequency  of  intercourse  and  the  many  harmful  in- 
fluences which  may  be  at  work,  it  becomes  very  dim- 
cult  to  decide  what  nervous  disturbances  can  be 
traced  to  coitus  interruptus.  In  certain  individuals 
the  practice  of  coitus  interruptus  either  is  aban- 
doned for  other  preventives  or  ceases  altogether 
when  the  woman  is  impregnated  and  the  normal 
form  of  intercourse  is  resumed ;  in  some  cases  inter- 
ruptus is  supplemented  by  masturbation,  etc. 

If  we  study  a  large  number  of  cases,  however,  we 
cannot  help  finding  a  direct  connection  between  cer- 
tain diseases  and  the  use  of  that  form  of  preventive. 
Fifty  cases  which  I  have  observed  myself  point  to 
such  a  conclusion. 

The  disturbances  we  observe  in  the  majority  of 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  189 

cases  are  anxiety  neuroses,  whose  symptoms  are  very 
often  deceptive.  They  are  generally  temporary  neu- 
roses without  any  special  import,  occurring  in  fits, 
sometimes  of  a  certain  duration,  and  affecting  the 
form  of  phobias,  agoraphobia,  monophobia,  anthro- 
pophobia,  etc.  Those  neuroses  vary  in  degree  from 
the  mildest  to  the  severest  form.  At  times,  too,  we 
observe  larval  or  incomplete  anxiety  neuroses.  To 
explain  the  latter  I  have  devised  the  following  dia- 
gram: 

A.  B.  c. 

Anxiety     neurosis   Physical     effects      or   Increase  of  the  anri- 

(feeling     of     anxiety    concomitant       symp-  ety  neurosis. 

with  a  modification  of   toms  (disturbances  of 

the  mental  processes),  the  respiratory,  circu- 
latory, secretory  and 
motor  organs). 

In  the  larval  anxiety  neuroses,  "A"  is  generally 
overlooked  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  anxiety  neu- 
rosis either  is  not  developed  enough  or  is  mistaken 
for  an  emotional  condition  of  a  similar  nature  such 
as  ill  humor,  irritability,  accompanied  by  some  bodily 
ailment.  And  thus  it  is  that  many  patients  only 
complain  of  dizziness,  asthma,  palpitations,  tremor, 
etc.,  whereas  the  real  trouble  is  an  anxiety  neurosis 
in  which  those  physical  symptoms  are  very  marked. 

More  frequent  than  the  larval  anxiety  neuroses 
are  the  incomplete  anxiety  neuroses  (anxiety  equiva- 
lents) whose  manifestations  are  confined  to  "B," 
that  is  to  the  physical  symptoms  of  the  neurosis. 
These  symptoms  which  are  extremely  varied  are  in 


190  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

general  disturbances  of  the  heart's  action,  of  the 
respiratory  organs,  pseudoasthma,  psychic  asthma, 
asthma  sexuale,  fits  of  dizziness,  congestion, 
diarrhea,  tremor,  profuse  perspiration,  pharyngo- 
spasm,  malaise,  bulimia,  sleeplessness,  etc. 

Among  the  anxiety  equivalents,  cardiac  symptoms 
are  the  most  frequent  in  both  sexes,  but  especially 
in  women.  A  misunderstanding  of  the  patient's  con- 
dition may  lead  one  to  consider  certain  forms  of 
nervous  cardiac  disorders  as  mere  physical  diseases. 
We  may  mention,  for  instance,  the  cardiac  neurosis 
described  by  Hertz  of  Vienna  as  Phrenocardia. 

Whether  we  should  consider  the  varied  phenomena 
of  anxiety  as  Freud  and  his  disciples  do,  ,that  is,  as 
the  symptoms  of  a  neurosis  or  when  they  are  accom- 
panied by  a  marked  neurasthenia  attribute  them  sim- 
ply to  neurasthenia  and  refuse  to  admit  a  combina- 
tion of  neurasthenia  and  anxiety  neurosis  is  a  ques- 
tion of  nosology  which  we  cannot  discuss  here. 

While  anxiety  manifestations  are  very  frequent, 
nervous  disturbances  of  the  sexual  region  are  very 
rare.  We  may  observe  in  men  a  lack  of  sexual 
power  due  to  premature  ejaculation  and  insufficient 
erection  coupled  with  irritation  of  the  bladder  or  of 
the  prostate  (increased  micturition,  feeling  of  heavi- 
ness and  pressure  in  the  permeal  region,  hyperesthe- 
sia  of  the  urethra  especially  at  its  prostatic  end). 
Those  symptoms  may  also  be  accompanied  by 
myelasthenic  symptoms,  rachialgia,  fatigue  and 
paresthesia  of  the  legs;  but  they  generally  occur 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  191 

isolated  or  in  combination  with  cerebrasthenic  symp- 
toms. Among  the  former  we  may  mention,  as  the 
most  frequent,  besides  the  symptoms  of  anxiety,  a 
greatly  increased  excitability;  compulsion  ideas  are 
less  frequent  and  are  mostly  in  the  nature  of  hypo- 
chondriac compulsion  phobias.  Fits  of  depression 
of  variable  duration  may  also  be  observed.  The 
patients  now  and  then  complain  of  headaches,  heavi- 
ness, strange  sensations  in  the  head,  nervous  head- 
aches. Their  capacity  for  work  and  their  memory 
are  impaired. 

Individual  cases  differ  greatly  for  it  is  not  only 
the  combinations  of  the  various  neurotic  symptoms 
which  differ  widely,  but  their  intensity  and  their 
duration  as  well.  Many  patients  are  affected  by 
phobias  on  the  street  or  in  crowded  rooms.  Others 
have  nervous  cardiac  troubles  or  asthma,  others 
complain  of  headaches  or  stubborn  sleeplessness. 

I  observed  this  last  symptom  especially  among 
women  who  for  years  had  failed  to  derive  any  grati- 
fication from  coitus  interruptus. 

Men  complain  mainly  of  myelasthenic  symptoms, 
paresthesia  of  the  legs,  stubborn  rachialgia  or  sacro- 
lumbar  pains,  the  symptoms  of  an  inflamed  pros- 
tate. 

Sometimes  people  whose  health  has  been  affected 
by  the  practice  of  coitus  interruptus  realize  clearly 
the  connection  between  that  practice  and  their  ail- 
ments; they  do  not,  however,  give  up  that  practice 
but  they  indulge  less  frequently  in  sexual  inter- 


192  .  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

course.  In  other  cases  ill  effects  either  are  not  ob- 
servable or  are  of  a  purely  transitory  character  and 
nervous  disorders  only  appear  long  afterwards 
and  possibly  in  connection  with  other  troubles  (in- 
fectious diseases,  especially  influenza,  accidents, 
protracted  excitement  or  exertions,  etc.).  In  such 
cases  physicians  and  patient  may  attribute  the  ail- 
ment to  the  more  obvious  cause  and  overlook  en- 
tirely the  coitus  interruptus  as  a  source  of  trouble. 

The  consequences  of  the  use  of  anti-conceptive 
means  are  almost  the  same  for  both  sexes ;  there  is, 
however,  one  small  difference;  anxiety  symptoms 
are  more  frequent  in  women  than  in  men.  In  fact 
we  always  observe  anxiety  symptoms  in  women 
whose  nervous  system  is  affected  by  the  practice 
of  coitus  interruptus. 

Women  present  no  symptoms  which  correspond 
to  the  disturbances  of  the  man's  sexual  powers.  On 
the  other  hand  we  find  in  them  symptoms  of  bladder 
inflammation  and  painful  feelings  in  !the  genital 
zone.  Rachialgia  and  sacro-lumbar  pains  are  more 
frequent  in  women  than  in  men.  In  a  number  of 
cases  we  also  observe  in  women  hysterical  symp- 
toms, fits  of  laughing  and  tears. 

One  should  not,  however,  attribute  all  those  symp- 
toms to  the  use  of  preventive  measures  for  some 
of  the  women  affected  in  that  way  presented  hysteri- 
cal symptoms  even  before  their  husbands  began  to 
practice  the  coitus  interruptus.  Hysterical  symp- 
toms in  those  cases  were  the  result  of  psychic  dis- 


SEXUAL  TEUTHS  193 

turbances  traceable  to  the  lack  of  sexual  gratifica- 
tion. 

We  see  from  the  foregoing  that  the  disorders  gen- 
erally brought  on  by  coitus  interruptus  are  neuras- 
thenia, neuroses,  and  less  frequently  hysteria.  I 
have  also  observed  a  few  cases  in  which  psychoses 
(melancholia  or  paranoia)  and  physical  disorders 
such  as  spinal  disease  developed. 

But  as  far  as  spinal  trouble  and  paranoia  were 
concerned  the  use  of  preventive  means  should  not 
be  considered  as  the  only  cause  but  only  as  one 
of  the  various  causes  of  disease. 

It  would  seem  as  though  after  the  patient  gives 
up  coitus  interruptus  and  resumes  the  normal  form 
of  intercourse  or  adopts  some  less  harmful  form  of 
prevention  one  would  at  once  observe  an  improve- 
ment in  his  condition  if  not  absolute  cure.  Such 
is  not  always  the  case.  Certain  symptoms  will  per- 
sist sometimes  for  several  years.  The  reason  for 
this  is  that  the  coitus  interruptus  is  replaced  by 
another  harmful  practice,  relative  abstinence. 

Patients  may  think  that  by  indulging  more  spar- 
ingly in  sexual  intercourse  they  can  better  their  con- 
dition but  the  result  is  quite  the  opposite.  The  vari- 
ous neurasthenic  conditions  and  anxiety  neuroses 
brought  on  by  the  practice  of  coitus  interruptus 
finally  become  independent  from  what  provoked 
their  appearance  and  remain  after  their  original 
cause  has  disappeared.  Phobias  in  particular  will 
persist  for  years  after  coitus  interruptus  has  been 


194  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

given  up.  A  sort  of  psychoreflex  mechanism  estab- 
lishes itself  which  like  all  reflexes  always  reacts  in 
the  same  way  upon  certain  stimuli  regardless  of  the 
original  factor  which  caused  that  condition  to  ap- 
pear. 

Physicians  do  not  exaggerate  as  grossly  nowadays 
as  they  used  to  several  years  ago  the  supposed  con- 
sequences of  coitus  interruptus.  Some  absurd  no- 
tions on  the  subject,  however,  are  still  finding  ac- 
ceptance. For  instance  the  belief  that  coitus  in- 
terruptus can  cause  chronic  prostatitis.  Personally 
I  have  never  observed  such  a  case  and  Frisch  in  his 
monograph  on  the  diseases  of  the  prostate  does  not 
even  mention  coitus  interruptus  among  the  possi- 
ble causes  of  chronic  prostatitis.* 

The  same  applies  to  the  various  disorders  of  the 
female  genitalia  which  certain  gynecologists  would 
attribute  to  coitus  interruptus.  Dr.  Theilhaber,  the 
famous  gynecologist,  told  me  that  women  who  in 
coitus  interruptus  fail  to  have  an  orgasm  very  often 
suffer  from  lumbar  pains  lasting  one  or  two  days; 
they  may  also  develop  nervous  ailments ;  some  may 
have  a  discharge  due  to  hypersecretion  of  the  uterine 
mucosa,  and  nervous  vesical  troubles.  No  anatomi- 
cal changes  have  been  observed  by  Dr.  Theilhaber 

•I  beg  very  decidedly  to  differ  both  from  the  author  and  Dr. 
Frisch.  I  have  seen  several  cases  of  prostatitis,  in  which  the  sole 
causative  factor  was  coitus  interruptus.  Both  the  history  and  the 
result  of  the  treatment  gave  unmistakable  evidence. — W.  J.  B. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  195 

who  states,  however,  that  coitus  interruptus  predis- 
poses to  myomas. 

I  had  at  a  time  the  impression  that  the  number 
of  cases  of  neurasthenia  due  to  coitus  interruptus 
was  on  the  increase;  in  the  last  years  on  the  con- 
trary I  have  felt  that  those  cases  have  been  less  fre- 
quent. This  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  not 
only  physicians  but  laymen  are  becoming  better 
acquainted  with  the  harmful  effects  of  coitus  in- 
terruptus. A  knowledge  of  those  effects  should  be 
spread  among  the  public  through  all  possible  agen- 
cies. We  must  recognize  that  owing  to  the  unre- 
liable character  of  the  various  chemical  and  me- 
chanical anti-conceptive  means,  people  are  rather 
loath  to  give  up  coitus  interruptus.  Industry  and 
medicine  have  a  great  task  ahead  of  them:  the  im- 
provement of  anti-conception  methods.  For  even 
the  poorest  people  *  should  be  enabled  to  limit  the 
number  of  their  offspring  without  endangering  their 
health  or  being  put  to  exorbitant  expense. 

*  Even  the  poorest  people.  That  even  is  delicious.  Why,  it  is 
just  the  poorest  people  who  are  most  in  need  of  the  knowledge  of 
contraceptive  methods.  W.  J.  B. 


SEXUAL  ABSTINENCE  IN  MEN  AND  WOMEN 
By  PROFESSOR  JOHANNES  DUCK 

SUGGESTION  plays  in  the  life  of  the  individual  as 
it  does  in  the  life  of  the  masses  a  tremendous  part, 
but  mass  suggestion  is  perhaps  the  more  powerful 
of  the  two.  This  holds  good,  naturally,  in  sexual 
life,  that  is  in  one  of  man's  most  essential  activities. 

Sexual  life  has  been  considered  from  two  radi- 
cally different  points  of  view.  Some  writers  con- 
sider sexuality  as  something  wicked  and  unclean; 
others  see  in  it  the  highest  form  of  gratification, 
the  thing  that  makes  life  worth  living.  We  seldom 
meet  people  who  strike  a  happy  medium  and  see  in 
the  sexual  life  something  perfectly  natural  which 
should  be  neither  overrated  nor  underrated,  which 
is  entitled  to  a  small  place  under  the  sun,  but  should 
be  accorded  that  place.  This  minority  is  little  in- 
fluenced by  suggestion  for  it  consists  almost  ex- 
clusively of  highly  intellectual  people  with  critical 
minds. 

The  masses  of  mankind,  however,  are  divided  up 
into  two  camps  and  will  presumably  always  be.  Each 
flock  follows  its  leader  whether  that  leader  be  a  man 
of  flesh  and  blood  or  a  mere  stock  phrase. 

This  is  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  case  of  sexual 

197 


198  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

abstinence.  Sexual  life  and  the  sexual  urge  are 
not  supposed  to  exist  outside  of  marriage ;  in  every 
divorce  case,  on  the  other  hand,  the  sexual  element 
is  so  overemphasized  that,  in  comparison  with  it, 
moral  factors  appear  practically  insignificant;  and 
thus  the  door  is  thrown  wide  open  to  misrepresenta- 
tion. The  individual  seldom  dares  to  set  himself 
up  against  views  either  forced  upon  him  by  mass 
suggestion  or  legalized  by  the  statutes ;  neither  does 
he  dare  to  draw  for  himself  the  inevitable  conclu- 
sions. 

In  this  matter,  however,  the  plain  truth  is  more 
important  than  in  any  other  matter !  This  is  well 
shown  by  data  I  have  collected  and  which  represent 
the  individual  attitude  to  sexual  abstinence. 

From  the  122  men  whom  I  asked  how  they  felt 
in  regard  to  abstinence  I  received  the  following  an- 
swers : 

18  of  them  or  14.7%  stood  it  easily. 

54  or  44.3%  bore  it  only  with  difficulty. 

31  or  25.4 %  stated  that  they  didn't  abstain. 

19  or  15.6%  failed  to  answer   or  gave  eva- 

sive answers. 


122  100% 

I  may  mention  that  among  those  who  bore  ab- 
stinence easily  there  were  three  Catholic  theological 
students  between  the  ages  of  19  and  23 ;  their  opin- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  199 

ion  does  not  really  count.  One  other  man  is  a  path- 
ological case;  we  find  then  12  men  or  9.8%  to  whom 
abstinence  does  not  constitute  a  hardship.  From  the 
54  men  who  consider  it  a  hardship  four  are  decided 
psychopathic  cases;  this  leaves  then  50  men  or  41%. 
If  we  only  take  into  account  the  62  men  who  an- 
swered the  question  directly  and  whose  testimony 
has  any  value,  we  arrive  at  a  proportion  of  12  men 
indifferent  to  the  sexual  urge  to  50  who  felt  it 
strongly. 

Literal  quotations  from  the  various  answers  I 
have  received  will  show  that  the  mode  of  life,  in 
particular  abstinence  from  alcohol,  a  vegetarian 
diet,  sports  and  other  forms  of  physical  exercise, 
care  to  avoid  excitement  and  finally  the  influence 
of  mass  suggestion  play  an  important  part  in  in- 
creasing or  decreasing  the  sexual  need. 

Answers  from  male  correspondents: 

—I  consider  total  abstinence  as  a  crazy  idea.  All 
the  continent  people  I  know  suffer  from  frightful 
nervousness.  I  have  tried  it  out  myself ;  continence 
for  several  undoubtedly  leads  to  an  increase  of 
physical  strength;  the  intellectual  functions  are  not 
disturbed;  but  after  a  while,  the  body  seems  to  be 
laden  with  sperm  and  pollutions  become  insufficient 
as  a  means  of  relief.  All  continent  people  and  ona- 
nists  suffer  from  anxiety  neuroses.1 

They  also  suffer  more  or  less  from  profuse  per- 
spiration. The  more  continent  a  man  is  the  more  he 

1  In  this  case  cause  and  effect  should  be  investigated. 


200  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

worries  for  he  suppresses  one  of  his  most  natural 
activities.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  never  known 
any  one  having  regular  sexual  intercourse  who  was 
anxious  or  nervous.  Continent  students  even  when 
they  are  well  prepared  take  their  examinations  with 
a  good  deal  of  fear  and  trepidation.  Students  who 
have  normal  sexual  intercourse  are  in  good  condi- 
tion and  even  the  most  stupid  of  them  show  in  the 
course  of  the  examinations  an  amazing  degree  of 
confidence.  This  type  of  man  succeeds,  the  under- 
sexed  and  those  who  indulge  in  self -abuse  fail.  .  .  . 

I  have  never  observed  any  bad  results  from  it,  at 
least  I  haven't  paid  any  attention  to  that.  .  .  . 

— Abstinence  affects  me  as  badly  as  a  disease.  It 
makes  me  nervous,  moody  and  unbearable,  and  I 
consider  a  woman  as  clever  from  the  sexual  point 
of  view  when  she  forestalls  that  condition  by  lend- 
ing herself  to  coitus  pleasantly  and  without  insist- 
ence. .  .  . 

— Yes  for  weeks  at  a  time  *  abstinence  agrees  very 
well  with  me.  It  isn't  a  hardship  for  me,  I  may 
even  be  in  close  contact  with  my  affinity  and  still 
abstain  from  sexual  intercourse.  Yet  I  am  not  lack-' 
ing  in  temperament  nor  do  I  use  any  remedies  to  re- 
main continent.  .  .  . 

— Well  I  follow  a  semi-vegetarian  diet  and  only 
take  mild  condiments.  .  .  . 

— When  I  am  continent  for  a  long  while  I  am  ter- 

*But  we  are  only  considering  those  who  abstain  permanently. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  201 

ribly  irritable  and  moody.  "When  I  have  no  normal 
relations,  I  masturbate.  .  .  . 

— I  am  married  and  when  my  wife  is  sick  or  away 
for  any  length  of  time  I  masturbate  as  I  prefer 
that  for  many  reasons  to  any  adventures.  I  could 
remain  continent  for  three  or  four  months  at  a 
time,  but  sometimes  only  for  a  few  days.  The  way 
one  lives  can  help  one  much  in  the  matter;  don't 
eat  too  much,  don't  loaf,  take  much  exercise  and  be 
so  tired  at  night  that  you  fall  asleep  at  once.  An 
evening  spent  in  the  theater  or  in  the  company  of 
women  breaks  up  almost  surely  a  period  of  absti- 
nence. Desk  work  is  also  very  bad,  for  it  means 
enforced  inactivity  which  allows  the  imagination 
to  run  riot.  The  best  protection  against  the  sexual 
urge  is  to  repel  such  thoughts  and  desires  at  once 
and  with  the  utmost  energy,  just  as  an  ascetic  would. 

— I  live  about  six  months  of  the  year  in  abstinence 
and  stand  it  well;  means:  sports,  abstinence  from 
alcohol  and  repression  of  my  imagination. 

— I  have  once  a  month  normal  intercourse  with 
one  and  the  same  woman,  but  cannot  stand  absti- 
nence longer  than  eight  days,  after  which  I  mastur- 
bate; otherwise  I  couldn't  fall  asleep. 

— Abstinence  is  altogether  impossible  for  me.  I 
am  married. 

— I  live  in  abstinence  but  stand  it  very  badly  and 
I  resort  to  all  sorts  of  palliatives  to  avoid  commerce 
with  prostitutes. 

— Yes ;  means :  activity,  long  tramps,  music,  rectal 


202  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

injections  which  provoke  ejaculation.  (The  man  is 
one  of  the  theological  students.) 

— I  don't  believe  there  can  be  abstinence  without 
masturbation  (and  this  would  be  the  only  real  kind 
of  abstinence)  except  in  the  rarest  phychopathic 
cases. 

— I  consider  that  abstinence  is  impossible  for  any 
man  or  woman  who  has  had  sexual  intercourse.  The 
right  person  only  has  to  be  there  at  the  right  time. 
A  man  cannot  live  in  abstinence  under  any  circum- 
stances or  else  he  masturbates  secretly. 

Among  my  women  correspondents,  five  who  had 
already  had  sexual  intercourse  and  three  who  had 
never  had  any  said  that  they  bore  abstinence  easily. 

Abstinence  easy  8  19% 

Abstinence  difficult  21  50% 

No  abstinence  3  7.2% 

Evasive  answer  or  none  10  23.3% 


42  100% 

After  deducting  virgins  and  psychopathic  cases  we 
find: 

Five  women  unaffected  and  nineteen  affected  by 
the  sexual  urge. 

I  quote  from  some  of  the  most  interesting  answers 
sent  in  by  my  female  correspondents : 

— As  I  have  never  had  sexual  intercourse,  I  stand 
abstinence  very  well,  especially  when  my  nerves  are 
in  good  condition. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  203 

— I  seldom  masturbate ;  my  days  are  so  taken  up 
with  work  that  I  never  have  time  for  any  other 
thoughts  and  always  feel  dead  tired  at  night;  this 
is  to  my  mind  the  best  means  to  remain  continent. 

— I  have  frequently  observed  that  continent  men 
have  little  mental  elasticity. 

— I  do  stand  abstinence  very  badly ;  I  masturbate 
and  need  work  badly  in  order  to  remain  continent, 
but  not  only  for  that.  It  is  only  overwork  that  will 
repress  my  sexual  desires.  .  .  . 

— I  could  never  remain  abstinent. 

— I  would  like  to  introduce  you  to  my  sister  in  law 
(a  teacher).  She  is  my  age  (over  30)  and  as  she 
is  not  married  presents  the  characteristics  of  the  so- 
called  old  maid.  She  realizes  the  change  in  her  and 
knows  the  cause  of  it.  She  feels  it  dreadfully,  as 
she  confessed  to  me  once,  when  she  was  very  de- 
pressed and  all  in  tears.  I  feel  a  certain  embarrass- 
ment about  letting  you  look  into  that  tortured  wom- 
an's heart,  but  I  say  to  myself:  How  many  un- 
married girls  are  there  on  earth  who  have  to  go 
through  the  same  thing!  It  is  well  that  some  one 
speaks  of  it  some  time.  Those  girls  are  generally 
made  fun  of  on  account  of  their  shyness,  and  no- 
body thinks  that  the  world  creates  such  types  by 
decreeing  that  unmarried  women  must  observe  sex- 
ual abstinence.  There  are  so  many  reforms  intro- 
duced into  the  world;  why  doesn't  some  one  take 
up  this  question  for  the  welfare  of  mankind  and 
espefciafly  of  the  "old  maids?"  My  sister-in-law 


204  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

asked  me  among  other  questions  the  following: 
"Isn't  one  woman  as  good  as  another?  Why  is  it 
that  only  married  women  are  allowed  to  satisfy  all 
their  sexual  feelings?  Have  not  single  women  the 
sex  instinct  as  strongly  implanted  in  them  as  the 
married  ones?" 

That  every  woman  cannot  marry  is  not  such  a 
misfortune,  but  the  law  which  says  that  single 
women  may  not  enjoy  the  same  sexual  gratification 
as  young  men  do  is  a  horror  which,  besides,  has  very 
bad  results.  For  instance,  it  causes  many  unhappy 
marriages,  for  I  know  that  many  girls  marry,  not 
only  to  be  taken  care  of  but  to  be  able,  as  married 
women,  to  satisfy  their  sexual  desires.  If  girls  were 
allowed  to  have  sexual  intercourse  before  marriage 
they  could  select  a  man  more  calmly  on  account  of 
his  mental  and  other  qualities,  which  would  con- 
stitute a  better  guarantee  for  a  happy  union.  When 
woman  demands  the  ballot  the  question  may  be  put 
off  with  a  smile,  but  when  an  unmarried  woman  de- 
mands the  same  recognition  of  her  sexual  life  which 
a  young  man  receives,  this  is  a  demand  which  should 
not  be  refused,  for  she  alone  is  responsible  for  the 
consequences  of  that  act.  Forgive  this  lengthy  let- 
ter, my  dear  Professor,  but  as  you  approach  so 
kindly  the  subject  of  feminine  psychology,  you 
should  know  how  we  feel  and  what  we  think,  and  I 
am  not  speaking  for  myself  alone.  .  .  . 

— Sexual  activity  makes  one  more  peaceful  and 
satisfied,  one  thing  I  have  observed  in  myself  and 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  205 

others;  that  sexual  abstinence  should  be  conducive 
to  unpleasant  moods  and  ill  humor  is  easily  under- 
stood. Sexual  activity  has  a  direct  bearing  upon 
one's  capacity  for  work.  I  once  had  a  maid  who 
never  worked  as  hard  as  when  she  expected  to  be 
with  her  lover  the  following  Sunday.  The  anticipa- 
tion of  sexual  gratification  made  her  feel  more  joy 
in  her  work. 

— Every  time  I  take  alcoholic  drinks  I  feel  ex- 
cited and  I  long  to  satisfy  my  sexual  desires. 

—I  have  so  little  sexual  gratification  that  I  con- 
sider my  life  as  one  of  abstinence.  I  try  to  make 
my  condition  more  bearable  through  hard  work, 
both  of  intellectual  and  physical  character,  but  I 
know  that  in  the  long  run  I  will  not  be  able  to  stand 
it.  I  would  have  left  my  husband  long  ago  if  I 
hadn't  loved  him.  I  will  probably  fall  some  day  into 
the  habit  of  onanism  or  slowly  become  insane. 

—I  am  only  continent  from  necessity,  that  is  when 
there  is  no  man  handy. 

-When  I  have  neither  sorrow  nor  worry  I  miss 
a  lover  terribly  and  I  can't  help  masturbating  now 
and  then.  .  .  . 

This  investigation  only  confirms  the  statement 
made  in  very  strong  terms  by  Max  Marcuse,  that 
sexual  abstinence  is  an  important  etiologic  factor 
of  disease. 


SEXUAL  HYPOCHONDEIA  AND  MORBID 
SCRUPULOUSNESS 

BY  MAGNUS  HIBSCHFELD,  M.D.,  Berlin 

AMONG  the  sexual  neuroses,  sexual  hypochondria 
and  morbid  scrupulousness  form  a  very  distinct 
group.  Every  physician  who  has  a  large  practice 
has  seen  in  his  office  patients  who  abandon  them- 
selves without  the  slightest  reason  to  the  greatest 
worries  over  their  sexual  life.  In  certain  cases  the 
physician  confines  himself  to  allaying  the  fears  ex- 
pressed to  him,  assuming  that  he  has  to  do  with  a 
normal  man  who  solicits  from  a  professional  an 
opinion  which  as  a  layman  he  wouldn't  dare  to 
formulate  himself.  In  other  cases,  however,  the 
physician  realizes  that  he  is  in  the  presence  of  a 
hypochondriac,  but  believes,  nevertheless,  not  with- 
out good  reasons,  that  the  case  is  not  to  be  taken 
any  more  seriously  than  any  case  of  hypochondria 
affecting  any  other  organ.  But  sexual  hypochondria 
is  very  much  like  sexual  neurasthenia;  while  the 
latter  is  like  any  other  form  of  neurasthenia  a  sign 
of  weakness  of  the  nervous  system,  at  the  same  time, 
its  sexual  etiology  and  symptomatology  place  it  in 
a  class  all  by  itself.  So  here  also  it  is  the  sexual 
factor  which  puts  upon  the  disease  its  peculiar 

207 


208  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

stamp.  It  is  therefore  well  to  devote  a  special  chap- 
ter to  sexual  hypochondria  both  as  a  form  of  hypo- 
chondria and  as  a  form  of  sexual  disturbance. 

A  large  number  of  hypochondriac  sexual  troubles 
present  themselves  to  us  under  the  form  of  sexual 
phobias.  The  best  known  of  them,  though  not  by 
any  means  the  most  frequent,  is  syphilophobia. 
Every  venereal  specialist  knows  the  syphilophobiac, 
the  worried  and  in  the  long  run  the  wearisome  type 
who  sees  in  the  slightest  redness  of  his  glans  a  pri- 
mary lesion  and  in  the  slightest  pharyngeal  catarrh 
a  syphilitic  chancre ;  the  self -torturing  type  of  man 
who  while  scrutinizing  his  own  body  from  head  to 
foot  finally  stumbles  upon  some  blotch  or  pustule 
which  has  a  distant  likeness  with  the  luetic  erup- 
tions he  has  found  described  in  medical  atlases,  lexi- 
cons and  encyclopedias.  In  their  ignorance  of 
anatomy,  such  people  are  often  puzzled  by  perfectly 
normal  parts  of  their  body  which  they  had  never 
observed  before  and  which  they  suspect  of  being 
pathological  growths.  When  they  feel  in  the  depth 
of  the  tissues  a  tiny  lymphatic  ganglion,  they  im- 
agine that  it  is  a  luetic  bubo.  If  after  a  sexual  con- 
tact they  notice  that  the  lips  of  the  meatus  are  a 
trifle  swollen,  they  believe  themselves  infected.  It 
is  the  sulcus  coronarius  glandis,  so  rich  in  veins 
and  glands,  which  they  investigate  with  special  pre- 
dilection and  suspicion.  Those  people  often  waste 
half  an  hour  a  day  or  more  inspecting  every  inch 
of  skin  or  mucous  membrane  which  happens  to  be 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  209 

within  their  range  of  vision,  with  sometimes  the  as- 
sistance of  a  hand  or  wall  mirror. 

Those  worries  are  sometimes  justified  as  these 
people  may  have  had  syphilis  in  the  past.  The  ma- 
jority of  them,  however,  never  had  syphilis  nor  did 
they  indulge  recently  in  intercourse  that  might  be 
considered  as  a  possible  source  of  infection.  Some 
of  them  may  have  read  that  there  are  cases  of  in- 
direct infection,  for  instance  through  toilet  seats, 
on  which  the  typical  sexual  hypochondriac  only  sits 
with  hesitancy  after  covering  them  up  carefully  with 
paper. 

I  treated  several  years  ago  a  patient  who  used 
to  bring  to  my  office  every  month  a  girl  whom  he 
wished  me  to  examine  before  he  had  any  contact 
with  her.  In  spite  of  the  assurance  I  gave  him  that 
the  woman  was  perfectly  healthy  he  would  come 
back  to  me  after  coitus  (although  he  never  per- 
formed the  act  without  a  preservative)  and  show  me 
all  kinds  of  suspicious  spots,  mostly  innocent  acne 
pustules. 

Those  people  keep  themselves  well  posted  about 
the  latest  scientific  discoveries.  Ever  since  reports 
of  Wassermann's  experiments  have  been  published, 
they  like  to  have  their  blood  tested.  Even  if  the 
test  is  negative  they  are  not  by  any  means  convinced 
that  they  do  not  have  syphilis. 

Gonorrhea  hypochondria  is  quite  as  frequent  as 
syphilophobia.  The  slightest  clouding  of  the  urine 
is  suspected  of  containing  gonorrheal  filaments  even 


210  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

when  the  patient  never  had  gonorrhea  before.  You 
may  explain  a  thousand  times  to  those  people  that 
the  secretion  they  squeeze  out  of  their  urethra  comes 
from  their  prostate  or  from  their  Cowper's  glands; 
they  will  not  feel  satisfied  until  they  find  a  quack, 
one  of  those  whose  advertisements  offer  advice  and 
help  in  secret  diseases,  and  who  tells  them  that  they 
have  gonorrhea,  although  it  may  only  be  due,  as 
they  add  mysteriously,  to  over-stimulation. 

A  large  contingent  of  the  sexual  hypochondriacs 
constitute  the  masturbation  hypochondriacs  who  in 
constant  fear  of  the  consequences  of  their  bad  habits 
cannot  enjoy  any  of  life's  pleasures.  Besides,  they 
reproach  themselves  severely  for  yielding  to  "the 
sin  of  the  flesh,"  to  their  " secret  vice"  to  "curse 
of  self -pollution, "  as  they  are  wont  to  designate 
masturbation. 

Just  as  the  syphilophobiac  finds  satisfaction  in 
listening  to  the  quack,  the  masturbation  hypochon- 
driac feeds  his  worries  upon  )the  mountebankish 
pamphlets  which  in  order  to  advertise  a  cure  or  a 
method  of  treatment  depict  in  the  darkest  colors 
the  consequences  of  youthful  indiscretions  or  youth- 
ful errors,  and  are  responsible  for  the  suicide  of 
many  a  young  man. 

Many  of  those  hypochondriacs  imagine  that  the 
ejaculation  they  provoke  artificially  comes  directly 
from  their  spine  or  from  their  brain  which  is  likely 
to  dry  up  on  account  of  their  practices;  they  fear 
a  spinal  lesion  or  loss  of  memory.  This  is,  by  the 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  211 

way,  a  very  old  medical  superstition:  we  read  in 
the  Talmud :  ' '  if  any  one  indulges  in  self -defilement 
his  brain  will  dry  up  so  that  it  will  be  heard  rattling 
in  the  skull. ' '  I  have  met  men  of  a  certain  age  who 
were  still  afraid  of  developing  spinal  lesions  be- 
cause they  had  masturbated  twenty  years  or  more 
before. 

One  thing  which  worries  particularly  masturba- 
tion hypochondriacs  is  the  fear  that  people  may  rec- 
ognize from  their  appearance  that  they  have  been 
indulging.  They  examine  their  faces  carefully  be- 
fore their  mirror  and  are  terribly  downcast  when 
they  notice  under  their  eyes  dark  rings  which  in 
reality  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  masturbation. 

A  young  man  whom  I  treated  years  ago  imagined 
that  owing  to  his  self-indulgence  his  hair  had  be- 
come thin;  he  didn't  dare  to  go  into  a  theater,  a 
concert  or  a  lecture  hall  for  fear  people  might  notice 
it.  This  man  had  masturbated  with  unusual  fre- 
quency, 3  or  4  times  a  day  for  ten  years,  but  he  was 
very  robust  in  spite  of  it. 

While  masturbation  is  almost  as  common  among 
women  as  among  men,  sexual  hypochondria  in  gen- 
eral and  masturbation  hypochondria  in  particular 
are  less  frequent  among  the  former.  I  have  ob- 
served, however,  a  number  of  married  and  unmar- 
ried women  who  suffered  from  severe  anxiety  neu- 
roses due  to  their  indulgence  in  masturbation.  One 
woman  had  acquired  the  habit  of  masturbating 
after  coitus.  Her  husband  suffered  from  ejaculatio 


212  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

praecox,  a  frequent  cause  of  masturbation  in  mar- 
ried women,  as  it  arouses  them  but  affords  them  no 
relief  from  the  resultant  nervous  tension.  Later 
she  began  to  masturbate  without  any  previous 
coitus.  She  came  to  consult  me  thinking  that  her 
self-indulgence  had  brought  on  a  sexual  disease. 
She  condemned  herself  very  severely  and  I  had  all 
I  could  to  convince  her  that  her  secretion  was  merely 
a  harmless  leucorrhea. 

Related  to  the  masturbation  hypochondriacs  are 
the  pollution  hypochondriacs  who  cannot  free  them- 
selves from  the  idea  that  every  involuntary  emission 
of  semen  is  a  serious  pathologic  symptom  to  which 
must  correspond  a  notable  weakening  of  their  body. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  we  don't  know  definitely 
whether  pollutions  are  pathological  or  merely  phys- 
iological phenomena.*  We  shall  not  mention  the 
dangers  and  the  harm  which  are  attributed  to  them 
by  the  type  of  sexual  hypochondriac  who  for  in- 
stance keeps  a  record  of  every  one  of  them,  just  as 
certain  masturbation  hypochondriacs  keep  marked 
calendars  and  diaries.  Those  people  derive  very 
little  comfort  from  consulting  a  physician  who  in- 
stead of  stopping  their  pollutions  simply  tells  them 
that  for  a  man  living  in  continence  three  or  four  pol- 
lutions a  month  do  not  mean  anything  whatever. 

*  They  may  be  both.  While  there  is  no  direct  line  of  demarca- 
tion between  the  two,  still  no  experienced  physician  will  have  much 
difficulty  in  determining  whether  a  given  patient's  pollutions  are 
normal  or  have  crossed  the  boundary  Jine  of  the  abnormal  or  patho- 
logical.— Editor. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  213 

There  are  people  who  believe  that  not  only  mastur- 
bation and  pollutions  but  even  coitus,  lawful  or  ex- 
tramatrimonial,  is  detrimental  to  their  health. 

These  coitus  hypochondriacs  worry  their  phy- 
sicians but  they  worry  themselves  even  more.  They 
often  set  a  definite  limit  to  their  sexual  activity, 
three  or  four  intercourses  a  month  and  they  are 
greatly  exercised  when,  as  happens  almost  unavoid- 
ably, they  overstep  that  limit.  Immediately  after 
the  consummation  of  the  act  they  begin  to  grum- 
ble, to  curse  their  weakness  and  berate  not  only 
themselves  but  their  partner  with  the  utmost  se- 
verity. They  make  their  wife  swear  or  at  least 
promise  that  she  will  not  let  herself  be  tempted 
again ;  I  have  known  of  divorce  cases  in  which  some 
sexual  cowards  would,  after  every  coitus,  abuse  and 
brutalize  the  woman  whom  they  had  just  covered 
with  caresses. 

Such  an  attitude  cannot  be  explained  satisfac- 
torily by  the  reaction  which  follows  upon  coitus, 
before  a  feeling  of  balance  and  repose  has  again 
pervaded  the  nervous  system,  that  phenomenon 
which  is  expressed  through  the  famous  adage  "omne 
animale  post  coitum  triste";  moral  factors  play  in 
this  respect  a  less  important  part  than  the  hypo- 
chondriac obsession  that  coitus  as  such  is  detrimen- 
tal to  mental  and  physical  health. 

Much  more  important  than  the  foregoing  forms 
of  sexual  hypochondria  is  the  impotence  hypo- 
chondria. In  this  case  as  well  as  in  the  others  we 


214  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

notice  that  the  patient  is  in  normal  health,  that  is 
to  say,  his  impotence  is  not  due  to  any  objective 
cause.  The  sexual  urge  is  normally  directed  toward 
woman.  We  find  neither  fetichism  nor  antifetichism, 
neither  sadism  nor  masochism,  neither  homosex- 
uality nor  any  other  perversion  or  inversion  affect- 
ing the  sexual  powers.  Organically  everything  is 
normal.  But  we  do  observe  signs  of  general  irri- 
tability and  nervous  weakness,  together  with  an  in- 
crease of  the  reflexes  (especially  of  the  cremasteric 
reflex)  and  of  the  vasomotor  excitability.  In  con- 
nection with  this  we  observe  erythrophobia,  the  fear 
of  blushing,  which  even  when  it  appears  isolated, 
always  seems  to  have  a  psychosexual  origin.  The 
only  thing  that  ails  the  impotence  hypochondriac  is 
lack  of  self-confidence.  Many  of  those  people  were 
unable  to  perform  the  sexual  act  the  first  time  they 
consorted  with  a  prostitute;  neuropathic  as  they 
are,  they  do  not  dare  to  make  any  more  attempts 
for  fear  of  the  humiliation  failure  would  occasion 
them.  While  they  know  very  well  that  honor  and 
erection  are  not  synonymous,  they  nevertheless  con- 
sider their  lack  of  erection  as  a  curse  and  a  stain 
on  their  honor. 

The  worst  about  those  cases  is  that  impotence 
hypochondria  as  well  as  imaginary  impotence  may 
result  in  actual  impotence.  The  fear  of  possible 
weakness  causes  an  inward  trepidation  which  is  any- 
thing but  favorable  to  an  erection.  The  expectation 
of  failure  acts  almost  as  a  suggestion.  I  have  seen 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  215 

men  already  near  forty  who  did  not  dare  to  ap- 
proach a  woman  much  as  they  desired  her.  Now 
and  then  they  would  summon  all  their  courage ;  but 
the  nearer  the  goal  they  were,  the  more  bashful  and 
awkward  they  became  and  when  one  word  would 
have  sufficed  to  achieve  success,  they  fled  to  their 
homes  to  seek  the  miserable  substitute  for  inter- 
course, solitary  gratification. 

A  year  ago  I  treated  a  chemist  who  has  since  been 
killed  in  the  war.  He  was  a  distinguished,  highly 
intelligent  type  of  a  man.  He  was  then  36.  At  23 
he  was  engaged  to  a  girl  with  whom  he  was  deeply 
in  love,  and  who  a  month  before  the  date  set  for 
the  wedding  lost  her  mind  and  was  committed  to 
an  insane  asylum  where  she  still  is  at  present.  He 
suffered  terribly  when  the  engagement  had  to  be 
broken.  Later  he  went  to  America  and  sought  con- 
solation and  oblivion  in  extremely  active  work  in 
which  he  was  successful.  At  30  he  decided  to  visit 
a  brothel  and  met  with  failure.  After  that  he  was 
absolutely  convinced  of  his  impotence.  Just  be- 
fore he  consulted  me  he  had  made  another  attempt 
with  as  little  success  as  the  first  time.  Psychother- 
apy, especially  persuasion  and  hypnosis  restored  to 
him  his  self-confidence  to  such  a  degree  that  about 
a  month  later  he  made  overtures  to  a  young  woman 
and  became  her  lover.  They  were  very  happy  to~ 
gether,  traveled  in  Switzerland,  from  where  he  was 
called  back  by  the  outbreak  of  the  war. 

It  is  a  little  known  fact  that  there  are  in  Berlin 


216  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

and  other  large  cities  " women  specialists,"  belong- 
ing mainly  to  the  better  class  of  prostitutes  who 
earn  a  livelihood  by  "treating"  the  impotent.  They 
take  great  pains  and  often  obtain  very  good  results. 

In  cases  of  conjugal  impotence  it  is  advisable  to 
enlist  the  help  of  the  patient's  wife.  By  using  the 
tact  which  is  the  prime  requisite  of  a  sex  specialist, 
much  can  be  accomplished.  For  there  are  cases  of 
impotence  in  which  the  patient's  wife  can  bring 
about  a  speedy  cure  simply  by  seconding  properly 
her  husband's  efforts. 

I  make  it  more  and  more  a  rule  in  cases  of  hypo- 
chondria due  to  conjugal  impotence  to  see  to  it  that 
the  husband  gives  me  a  chance  to  talk  things  over 
with  his  wife.  This  has  proved  so  helpful  that  I 
have  come  to  consider  the  treating  of  the  husband 
alone  without  calling  in  the  wife's  aid  a  practical 
error. 

In  many  cases  impotence  hypochondria  assumes 
rather  the  character  of  sexual  overscrupulousness. 
The  difference  is  this.  The  hypochondriac  is  con- 
vinced that  he  is  simply  unable  to  have  sexual  in- 
tercourse, the  man  suffering  from  sexual  scrupulous- 
ness thinks  his  impotence  is  due  to  this  or  that  rea- 
son. Both  are  the  victims  of  autosuggestion.  Very 
often  the  man  worries  over  the  woman's  sexual  or- 
gans, less  frequently  but  not  very  seldom  over  the 
conformation  of  his  own  organs.  It  is  especially 
during  the  engagement  period  that  men  begin  to 
doubt  their  sexual  powers.  Many  a  bridegroom  I 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  217 

• 

have  had  to  drive,  so  to  speak,  into  the  bridal  cham- 
ber. Some  think  that  they  could  not  perform  the 
act  because  of  their  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  female 
organs ;  whenever  they  consort  with  prostitutes,  the 
chief  difficulties  are  surmounted  with  the  woman's 
assistance.  The  eager  study  of  anatomical  charts 
gives  them  little  enlightenment. 

There  is  also  a  type  of  man  who  might  be  desig- 
nated as  defloration  hypochondriac.  The  cleaving  of 
the  hymen  appears  to  him  a  task  to  which  he  is  not 
equal.  One  of  my  patients  had  been  married  eight 
years  but  had  never  been  able  to  make  up  his  mind 
to  deflower  his  wife ;  he  thought  he  did  not  have  the 
necessary  physical  strength  and  besides  could  not 
help  considering  the  act  as  a  sort  of  physical  vio- 
lence. I  performed  the  operation  surgically  and  the 
man  has  since  then  become  a  father. 

Some  men  are  obsessed  by  the  idea  that  their 
wife  is  "built  too  narrow,"  an  idea,  by  the  way, 
which  is  held  by  many  laymen.  When  mere  suasion, 
does  not  produce  results  the  physician  must  in  such 
cases  resort  to  more  realistic  methods.  I  once  of- 
fered to  the  husband  to  widen  his  wife's  vagina 
by  means  of  specula  of  increasing  size.  I  intro- 
duced several  glass  specula  into  her  vagina  and  he 
went  away  quite  comforted  when  I  showed  him  that 
the  last  speculum  I  used  was  sensibly  larger  than 
his  penis. 

I  have  found  it  harder  to  allay  the  patients '  wor- 
ries over  their  own  sexual  organs.  Those  worries 


218  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

assume  to  a  certain  degree  the  character  of  com- 
pulsion neuroses  according  to  Westphal's  interpre- 
tation of  the  word,  or  of  what  Magnan  calls  obses- 
sions. There  are  men  with  fully  developed  organs 
who  imagine  that  their  member  is  too  small,  and 
that,  in  consequence,  they  cannot  get  married,  for 
any  woman  would  laugh  at  them.  Others  torture 
themselves  with  the  idea  that  their  penis  is  too 
large ;  they  are  afraid  of  hurting  the  woman.  Some 
imagine  that  it  has  been  deformed  by  excessive  mas- 
turbation or  that  it  should,  while  in  erection,  point 
upward  instead  of  downward.  Some  stand  before 
a  mirror  and  discover  that  their  right  testicle  hangs 
lower  than  the  left  one;  they  think  their  doctor  is 
only  trying  to  comfort  them  when  he  tells  them  that 
most  people  are  built  that  way  and  that  it  makes 
no  difference.  Some  worry  over  the  small  size, 
some  over  the  large  size  of  their  testicles.  I  had 
occasion  to  observe  with  Dr.  Burchard  a  curious 
case  of  obsession.  A  man  of  50  thought  that  his 
scrotum  (which  was  perfectly  normal  in  size)  was 
much  too  small.  He  wished  to  know  whether  there 
wasn't  some  means  by  which  it  could  be  made  to 
hang  as  low  as  the  middle  of  the  thigh.  He  wished 
us  to  do  it  through  injections  of  paraffin.  It  is  hard 
to  imagine  how  much  that  man  worried  over  that 
grotesque  idea;  he  wept  like  a  child  when  we  re- 
fused to  give  him  satisfaction.  We  were  his  last 
hope,  he  told  us.  I  have  known  of  many  men  who 
imagined  that  they  were  hermaphrodites.  When  ex- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  219 

amined  they  would  show  the  prolongation  of  the 
scrotal  raphe  at  the  perineum  which  they  imagined 
to  be  a  rudimentary  or  blind  vaginal  opening. 

While  it  is  all  very  well  for  those  contemplating 
marriage  to  think  things  over,  there  are  cases  in 
which  hesitancy  and  overconcern  assume  a  decidedly 
morbid  character.  I  treated  recently  a  young  man 
of  28  who  had  engaged  himself  to  a  young  girl  of 
20.  The  day  after  the  engagement  took  place,  he 
brought  his  fiancee  a  ring  and  then  noticed  that  her 
fingers  were  "repulsively  thick  and  red."  Above 
all  things  he  thought  the  girl  received  him  too  coldly. 
He  felt  clearly  that  she  was  only  taking  him  for  the 
sake  of  his  money,  as  he  was  very  well  to  do.  This 
impression  became  deeper  and  deeper  and  the  fol- 
lowing Sunday  when  the  two  families  met  to  cele- 
brate the  occasion  he  broke  the  engagement.  His 
conscience  began  immediately  to  trouble  him.  Day 
and  night  he  plagued  himself  with  the  thought  of 
the  injustice  he  had  done  to  the  girl.  He  begged 
for  forgiveness  and  wrote  asking  once  more  for  her 
hand.  As  soon  as  she  took  him  back  his  doubts  re- 
turned. A  week  later  the  engagement  was  broken 
once  more.  Twice  again  he  went  through  the  same 
performance.  After  his  fourth  engagement  he  came 
to  me  with  his  father,  in  a  condition  of  despair, 
haunted  by  ideas  of  suicide ;  he  no  longer  knew  what 
to  do.  We  decided  that  the  engagement  should  be 
broken  definitely ;  but  it  took  him  a  long  time  to  re- 
gain his  former  equilibrium. 


220  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

While  such  exaggerated  cases  are  comparatively 
rare,  cases  of  less  gravity  are  very  common.  I  have 
gradually  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  hesitancy 
due  to  sexual  hypochondria  and  morbid  scrupulous- 
ness is,  with  sexual  perversions,  one  of  the  most 
frequent  causes  of  celibacy. 

Such  cases  are  less  frequent  among  women.  Yet 
I  had  to  treat  once  a  telephone  girl  who  had  been 
brought  to  me  by  her  fiance.  In  this  case  too  the 
engagement  had  to  be  finally  broken  after  the  date 
of  the  wedding  had  been  set  as  many  as  six  times, 
and  postponed  every  time  at  her  request  a  few  days 
before  the  wedding.  Jealousy  often  is  the  origin  of 
certain  obsessions.  A  patient  of  mine  was  obsessed 
by  the  idea  that  his  wife  had  not  been  a  virgin  when 
he  courted  her.  That  suspicion  had  crept  into  his 
mind  before  the  wedding  and  had  been  strengthened 
by  the  fact  that  the  first  connection  had  been  rela- 
tively easy.  He  had  never  revealed  to  his  wife  the 
actual  reasons  for  his  moodishness;  but  he  couldn't 
go  on  that  way  and  insisted  on  knowing  the  truth. 

Many  neurotics  suffer  intensely  from  a  jealous 
obsession  based  upon  the  relations  which  they  im- 
agine their  wife  or  bride  once  had  with  some  other 
man.  Sometimes  those  ideas  repose  on  no  founda- 
tion whatever;  sometimes  a  neurotic  plies  the  un- 
fortunate victim  of  his  love  with  so  many  pressing 
questions  that  she  finally  confesses  to  having  cared 
for  somebody  many  years  before.  A  colleague  of 
mine  who  had  consulted  many  other  physicians  be- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  221 

sides  me,  felt  inexpressibly  jealous  of  a  man  who 
had  been  dead  many  years.  After  pestering  his 
bride  with  questions  he  had  finally  made  her  con- 
fess that  the  man  had  once  tried  to  have  intercourse 
with  her.  He  wanted  to  know  whether  under  the 
circumstances  he  could  marry  the  girl. 

In  the  past  few  years  I  have  frequently  observed 
among  married  people  the  delusion  that  either  wife 
or  husband  is  homosexual.*  After  the  Moltke-Har- 
den  scandal  such  delusions  cropped  up  like  mush- 
rooms. A  workingwoman  asked  me  recently  to  talk 
her  husband  out  of  the  idea,  which  caused  him  to 
plague  her  constantly,  that  she  had  homosexual  ten- 
dencies. When  I  asked  the  man  to  come  and  see  me 
he  related  that  a  young  woman  on  meeting  his  wife 
had  moved  the  tip  of  her  tongue  between  her  lips ; 
this  had  confirmed  the  suspicion  he  had  had  for 
some  time.  The  absolute  confidence  which  the  vic- 
tims of  such  delusions  show  fairly  remind  one  of 
paranoia. 

This  feature  is  especially  striking  in  one  variety 
of  sexual  sufferers  with  which  I  will  now  deal 
briefly. 

They  are  men  and  women,  the  majority  though 
not  all  of  whom  have  abnormal  sexual  feelings  and 
in  whom  an  actual  persecution  neurosis  has  de- 
veloped. One  of  my  patients  imagined  that  people 

*  This  is  not  the  case  in  this  country.  Only  an  insignificant 
fraction  of  the  people  know  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  homo- 
sexuality.— Editor. 


222  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

suspected  him  of  homosexual  practices  because  he 
wore  no  wedding  ring.  He  would  not  listen  to  the 
very  obvious  advice  I  offered,  that  is  to  wear  a  ring, 
so  as  to  free  himself  from  that  worry. 

Many  people  who  for  years  have  indulged  in  ab- 
normal practices  are  terrified  by  every  ring  of  the 
door  bell.  "I  am  found  out"  is  the  first  idea  that 
shoots  through  their  head;  "the  secret  police  is  at 
the  door  prepared  to  arrest  me."  In  every  tele- 
phone call  they  suspect  an  attempt  at  blackmail. 
On  the  street  they  imagine  they  are  shadowed  by 
detectives.  "I  wish  I  could  find  an  apartment  into 
which  people  couldn't  peer,"  said  a  patient  who  for 
12  years  had  been  depicting  to  me  the  persecution 
to  which  he  had  been  submitted  by  neighbors,  jani- 
tors, tradesmen  and  other  people.  Such  fits  came 
over  him  periodically.  The  last  time  I  saw  him 
he  hadn't  dared  to  go  home  for  five  days.  A  man 
whom  he  thought  to  be  a  detective  had  been  walk- 
ing up  and  down  in  front  of  his  house,  undoubtedly 
to  find  out  who  came  in  and  went  out.  It  was  very 
difficult  to  appease  this  patient.  He  finally  returned 
to  his  apartment  accompanied  by  an  attorney  friend 
of  his,  but  it  took  him  some  time  before  he  could 
believe  that  the  innocent  cordiality  with  which  the 
other  tenants  greeted  him  was  not  pure  hypocrisy. 
He  expected  to  be  arrested,  although  there  was  no 
reason  to  fear  that  the  sexual  practice  in  which  he 
had  indulged  could  have  become  known  to  any  third 
party. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  223 

"At  the  hotel,"  those  unfortunates  say,  "the 
waiters  stare  at  me,"  "the  guests  at  the  next  table 
make  remarks  about  my  shape, "  "  everybody  in  the 
place  knows  about  it,  people  whisper  and  when  I 
come  in  they  all  stop  talking."  "At  the  office  they 
receive  me  with  freezing  silence,  or  ironical  glances 
or  repressed  giggles."  If  at  the  coat  room  they  are 
given  a  check  numbered  175  [the  number  of  the 
paragraph  in  the  penal  code  relative  to  homosexual 
practices]  they  think  they  have  been  found  out;  if 
the  name  of  a  famous  sexologist  is  mentioned  in  their 
presence  they  construe  the  remark  as  an  allusion 
to  their  abnormality.  They  do  not  dare  to  show 
too  much  affection  to  a  child  for  fear  their  attitude 
might  be  ascribed  to  sexual  motives;  the  papers 
mention  so  often  people  whose  friendliness  was  dan- 
gerous to  children.  They  feel  terribly  upset  when 
a  person  of  their  sex  innocently  walks  with  them 
arm  in  arm.  They  know  that  if  any  one  should  see 
them  then,  they  would  be  absolutely  compromised. 
Very  often  they  select  as  companions  people  they 
simply  cannot  bear.  A  homosexual  lawyer  used  to 
show  himself  everywhere  with  a  beautiful  woman 
whom  he  designated  as  his  "proof  of  alibi." 

Those  people  open  with  trembling  hands  envel- 
opes directed  in  an  unfamiliar  handwriting  and 
which  might  contain  threats  of  exposure.  A  com- 
munication bearing  an  official  stamp  throws  them 
into  the  most  absurd  fits  of  terror. 

Even  when  they  consult  people  whom  they  know 


224  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

to  be  bound  by  professional  secrecy,  physicians  or 
lawyers,  they  introduce  themselves  under  assumed 
names.  I  treated  for  some  time  a  student  who  told 
me  his  name  was  "Samter"  [derived  from  the  Ger- 
man word  which  means  velvet].  I  never  suspected 
that  this  was  not  his  real  name  until  in  the  course 
of  a  conversation  he  revealed  to  me  his  fetichist  in- 
clination for  velvet  and  similar  fabrics.  "That  is 
why  you  selected  the  name  Samter,"  I  remarked  to 
him,  and  he  blushingly  confessed. 

Persecution  neuroses  are  sometimes  accompanied 
by  sensory  delusions.  The  patients  assert  that 
people  make  obscene  remarks  to  them,  to  show  that 
they  consider  them  as  abnormal  persons.  I  have 
two  patients  suffering  from  that  form  of  aberration. 
Both  are  spinsters  of  about  forty-five.  They  are 
not  homosexual  but  they  imagine  they  are  taken 
for  such  by  all  kinds  of  people.  One  of  them  would 
never  remain  alone  in  a  room  with  another  woman 
on  that  account. 

It  is  especially  during  the  male  and  female  cli- 
macteric that  one  can  observe  that  condition  which 
only  differs  from  paranoia  in  one  respect :  the  prog- 
nosis is  much  more  favorable.  In  many  cases,  how- 
ever, those  unfortunates  do  not  wait  for  an  improve- 
ment of  their  condition  and  they,  in  order  to  escape 
their  imaginary  tormentors,  put  an  end  to  their 
miserable  existence. 

I  will  now  say  a  few  words  about  the  prognosis 
and  therapy  of  sexual  hypochondria  and  morbid 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  225 

scrupulosity.  As  I  have  already  remarked,  the  out- 
look is  not  unfavorable  in  a  large  number  of  cases, 
although  the  treatment  taxes  sorely  the  patience 
of  both  patient  and  physician.  In  certain  cases,  for 
instance,  in  impotence  hypochondria  and  in  mas- 
turbation or  pollution  hypochondria  the  prognosis 
is  generally  good.  It  is  not  so  good  in  fixed  obses- 
sions or  in  jealousy  neurosis  and  it  is  decidedly  bad 
in  the  paranoid  forms. 

Combined  psychotherapy:  persuasion,  suggestion 
and  hypnotism,  is  the  first  therapeutic  method  to  be 
applied.  If  the  sexual  worries  are  due  only  to  sexual 
ignorance  a  serious  process  of  enlightenment  may 
relieve  the  mental  tension  and  bring  about  a  cure. 
Physicians  skilled  in  psychoanalysis  will  obtain  good 
results  from  it,  for  there  is  no  doubt  that  from  an 
etiological  point  of  view,  sexual  repression,  and 
childhood  influences  and  discipline  have  a  good  deal 
to  do  in  these  cases.  The  physician  must  also  en- 
deavor with  the  help  of  all  the  medicinal,  dietetic 
and  physical  methods  of  treatment  to  increase  the 
patient's  force  of  resistance  and  to  allay  his  nervous 
agitation.  Much  depends  upon  the  personality  of 
the  physician  in  whom  the  patient  must  have  un- 
bounded confidence ;  else  he  will  break  away  and  fall 
into  the  hands  of  quacks. 

The  existence  of  sexual  hypochondria  alone  would 
justify  the  introduction  of  sexual  teaching  into  medi- 
cal courses  in  order  that  practicing  physicians  may 
be  able  to  give  the  unfortunate  sufferers  competent 


226  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

advice  and  assistance.  Sexual  anxiety  neurosis  is 
a  typical  disease  of  modern  times.  It  is  hardly  be- 
lievable that  there  could  have  been  as  many  genital 
hypochondriacs  among  the  old  Greeks  or  the  an- 
cient Germans.  We  lack  the  hedonism  of  old,  the 
naive,  genuine  sexual  enjoyment  which  shunned  ex- 
cesses, without,  however,  falling  from  one  extreme 
into  another  extreme  which  is  worse  yet. 

Sexual  science  free  from  all  prejudices  must  re- 
pair the  damage  done  to  mankind  by  sexual  super- 
stition prompted  by  the  religious  idea  of  sin. 


THE  DOUBLE  STAND AED  OF  MORALITY 
BY  PROF.  CHRISTIAN  VON  EHRENFELS 

THE  existence  of  a  double  standard  implies  two 
things :  a  potent  factor  of  a  great  step  forward  and 
a  fatal  misunderstanding.  By  the  double  standard 
we  generally  understand  the  hypocritical  morality  of 
Western  nations  according  to  which  men,  be  they 
officials,  teachers,  fathers  or  husbands,  pose  as  the 
determined  defenders  of  a  monogamous  single 
standard  and  then  indulge  secretly  in  every  form  of 
immorality. 

Deplorable  as  that  state  of  affairs  may  appear  it 
would  be  a  grievous  mistake  to  use  it  as  an  excuse 
for  establishing  a  single  standard  for  both  sexes. 
A  single  standard  of  morality  would  make  upon  both 
sexes  uniform  demands  in  the  very  domain  wherein 
they  differ  most,  the  domain  of  procreation  with 
all  its  relevant  urges  and  instincts.  We  face  here 
a  serious  biological  peril. 

For  it  is  only  when  the  specific  activities  of  both 
sexes  and  with  them  the  moral  code  governing  those 
activities  are  clearly  differentiated  that  the  race 
can  thrive  and  remain  healthy.  As  soon  as  the  atti- 
tude of  both  sexes,  especially  toward  the  questions 

227 


228  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

of  wooing  and  of  sexual  gratification,  becomes  too 
much  alike  racial  soundness  is  in  jeopardy. 

Selection  serves  in  the  entire  organic  world  as  a 
factor  in  the  survival  and  development  of  its  species, 
varieties  or  races;  selection  eliminates  the  indi- 
viduals who  are  not  fitted  for  the  life  struggle  and 
prevents  them  from  reproducing  themselves;  of  all 
the  forms  of  selection,  virile  selection,  that  is  the 
male's  fight  for  the  female  is  the  most  important. 
Virile  selection  cannot  take  place,  however,  unless 
the  attitude  of  both  sexes  is  clearly  differentiated 
at  the  time  of  wooing  and  pairing.  Virile  selection 
demands  the  elimination  of  a  large  proportion  of 
males  capable  of  reproducing  themselves,  but  sex- 
ually inferior;  and  consequently  the  male  sex  is  ex- 
pected to  display  a  great  deal  of  activity  and  to  woo 
many  females  while  the  female  is  expected  to  assume 
a  passive  attitude. 

Among  animals,  at  mating  time,  any  female  is 
attractive  for  any  male ;  women,  on  the  other  hand, 
attract  men  for  special  esthetic  reasons;  if  all 
women  were  ready  to  consort  with  any  men,  all  the 
men  would  satisfy  their  desire  with  a  minority  of 
the  most  beautiful  and  sexually  attractive  women 
and  the  birthrate  would  fall  below  the  necessary 
average.  It  has  then  become  necessary  for  woman 
to  only  consort  with  one  man,  at  least  while  the 
children  are  being  brought  up  so  as  to  insure  them 
the  father's  care  and  protection. 

From  this  we  can  judge  how  detrimental  a  single 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  229 

sexual  standard  would  be  to  the  race.  This,  how- 
ever, is  only  evidence  by  deduction. 

Some  one  may  ask:  Is  there  historical  evidence 
that  any  race  has  deteriorated  or  died  out  through 
adherence  to  a  single  standard? 

I  might  answer  that  question  by  asking  one  my- 
self :  Is  there  historical  evidence  that  any  race  ever 
adhered  to  a  single  standard? 

Who  could  answer  this  question  in  the  affirmative? 

There  is  only  one  ethnical  group  on  earth  whose 
system  of  reproduction  has  been  so  dominated  by 
the  single  standard  of  morality  that  we  could  draw 
from  its  present  condition  of  health  any  conclusions 
for  or  against  that  standard ;  it  is  the  group  to  which 
we  belong,  the  Western  nations  dominated  by  the 
Christian  ideal. 

But  who  could  say  that  the  single  standard  of 
morality  obtains  among  us? 

Our  double  standard,  however,  only  affects  the 
gratification  of  sexual  instincts;  it  does  not  affect 
the  process  of  reproduction  and  has  therefore  noth- 
ing to  do  with  selection. 

Our  system  of  reproduction  is  more  and  more 
dominated  by  the  single  standard  of  morality  which 
makes  the  same  demands  on  both  sexes  and  there- 
fore does  away  with  the  virile  selection.  We  can 
leave  illegitimate  children  out  of  the  discussion. 
For  one  thing  the  majority  of  those  children  are 
the  fruit  of  monogamous  unions  which  were  not 
legalized;  when  this  isn't  the  case,  they  find  them- 


230  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

selves  in  conflict  with  the  current  morality  and  are 
brought  up  by  morally  inferior  individuals;  finally 
the  deplorable  conditions  in  which  they  are  brought 
up  are  bound  to  cause  them  to  deteriorate  mentally 
and  physically  regardless  of  the  strong  constitution 
they  may  have  inherited. 

If  a  single  standard  of  morality  is  detrimental 
to  the  race,  the  Western  nations  must  have  degen- 
erated under  the  influence  of  their  monogamic  sys- 
tem of  reproduction.  "We  cannot  very  well  prove 
this  by  comparing  ourselves  with  our  ancestors  of 
a  thousand  years  ago.  We  know  too  little  about  the 
health  of  the  Carolingians  to  draw  such  parallels. 

We  must  seek  evidence  elsewhere.  Is  there  any- 
where in  the  world  an  ethnical  group  which  has  pre- 
served not  only  for  purposes  of  gratification  but  for 
purposes  of  reproduction  as  well,  its  original, 
healthy,  differentiated  sexual  morality,  an  ethnical 
group  living  like  ourselves  under  civilized  condi- 
tions, so  that  we  could  draw  comparisons  between 
its  health  and  ours !  In  comparison  with  that  ethni- 
cal group  our  own  race  should  show  a  distinct  in- 
feriority in  physical  strength  and  endurance. 

This  hypothesis  is  confirmed  by  actual  facts  in  a 
manner  which  is  most  humiliating  for  us. 

The  various  ethnical  groups  making  up  the  Chi- 
nese nation  and  which  for  more  than  a  hundred  gen- 
erations have  lived  in  peaceful  union,  a  unique  fact 
in  history,  have  preserved  even  with  the  advance  of 
civilization  the  natural,  healthy,  differentiated  sys- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  231 

tern  of  morality  which,  not  only  is  in  accord  with 
virile  selection  but  to  a  certain  extent  makes  it  pos- 
sible. 

In  that  ethnical  group  polygamy  or  rather  con- 
cubinage assures  to  the  man  who  is  successful  in 
the  social  competition  a  greater  opportunity  to  re- 
produce himself.  The  results  of  that  system  re- 
spond entirely  to  the  demands  of  biology.  Ethnolo- 
gists are  aware  of  the  fact  that  as  far  as  physical 
strength,  endurance  and  resistance  to  disease  goes, 
in  a  word  as  far  as  what  we  call  health  is  concerned, 
the  average  Chinaman  is  vastly  superior  to  the  aver- 
age man  of  the  West. 

One  of  the  results  of  this  is  that  in  the  labor  mar- 
ket the  Western  man  is  unable  to  compete  with  the 
Chinaman.  The  United  States  of  America  has  only 
been  able  to  cope  with  this  condition  by  passing 
exclusion  laws  against  Chinese  workingmen. 

Monogamy  is  not,  however,  the  only  single  stand- 
ard system  of  morality.  There  are  many  other  sys- 
tems imposing  the  same  duties  or  granting  the  same 
privileges  to  both  sexes.  Monogamy  is  simply  the 
most  severe  of  all  systems.  It  simply  restricts  the 
man's  freedom  to  the  measure  of  freedom  it  can  ac- 
cord to  the  woman.  But  many  other  varieties  of 
single  standard  morality  are  possible  from  this  ex- 
treme system  to  the  other  extreme  which  extends 
the  wife's  privileges  until  they  include  all  of  the 
husband's.  Nobody  with  any  degree  of  insight  will 


232  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

imagine  that  such  systems  could  be  better  for  the 
health  of  the  race  than  strict  monogamy. 

Those  systems  are  simply  various  forms  of  im- 
morality tending  more  and  more  towards  mere 
promiscuity  and  sexual  anarchy.  They  not  only 
preclude  virile  selection  but  make  women  unwilling 
to  bear  children  and  cause  the  birthrate  to  fall  be- 
low the  necessary  minimum. 

History  tells  us  that  whenever  loose  forms  of  sin- 
gle standards  prevailed,  as  for  instance  in  the  Eo- 
man  plutocracy  at  the  time  of  the  Empire,  the  classes 
of  the  population  thus  affected  very  soon  deterio- 
rated biologically  and  died  out. 

Monogamy  is  of  all  the  forms  of  single  standard 
moralities  the  one  which  is  best  adapted  to  the  con- 
servation of  the  racial  health,  the  one  at  least  under 
which  racial  deterioration  proceeds  most  slowly. 
But  the  facts  I  presented  above  prove  abundantly 
that  races  which  reproduce  themselves  through 
monogamistic  unions  cannot  preserve  for  ever  their 
physical  robustness.  And  this  is  enough  to  make 
us  reject  the  single  sexual  standard  if  we  wish  as 
a  race  to  come  up  to  the  demands  of  the  future,  if 
we  are  loath  to  see  ourselves  counted  among  the 
dead. 

Is  it  worth  while  to  enumerate  the  other  harmful 
effects  that  could  result  for  civilization  from  the 
adoption  of  a  single  moral  standard?  After  the 
reasons  I  have  mentioned  before  any  other  reasons 
may  appear  very  trifling  indeed. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  233 

The  majority  of  our  sex  reformers  preconize  as 
the  best  weapon  in  the  fight  against  the  deplorable 
consequences  of  the  double  standard  the  adoption 
of  a  single  standard  for  both  sexes.  That  single 
standard  has  proved  to  be  very  pernicious  from 
the  point  of  view  of  race  hygiene  and  is  therefore 
unsuitable  for  a  race  desirous  to  survive. 

A  single  standard  morality  or,  at  least,  its  out- 
ward procreative  manifestation,  permanent  mo- 
nogamous marriage,  does  not  by  any  means  obviate 
the  abuses  resulting  from  a  double  standard  mo- 
rality; on  the  contrary,  it  encourages  them  and  is 
always  accompanied  by  them. 

Man's  polygamous  instincts  cannot  be  suppressed 
by  statute.  The  moral  demands  made  by  the  per- 
manent monogamous  marriage  are  too  burdensome 
for  the  majority  of  men.  One  cannot  expect  the 
great  majority  of  men  of  any  race  to  enter  the 
bonds  of  permanent  monogamous  marriage  without 
having  ever  found  out  personally  what  sexual  inter- 
course was  like.  Neither  can  we  expect  from  the 
few  men  who  only  find  that  out  after  marriage 
that  they  will  be  all  their  life  satisfied  with  that  one 
experience. 

Whenever  official  morality  makes  such  exaggerated 
and  unnatural  demands  men  will  resort  to  surrepti- 
tious intercourse  in  order  to  gratify  their  sexual 
instincts  and  they  will  drag  to  ruin  some  of  the 
loveliest  women.  The  whole  thing  only  means :  lies, 
hypocrisy,  brutal  overpowering  of  the  weak  who  are 


234  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

then  called  whores,  unmarried  mothers  and  illegiti- 
mate children.  .  .  . 

There  is  only  one  way  of  breaking  that  chain  of 
disgraceful  evils,  that  is  to  recognize  frankly  and 
honestly  that  there  must  be  a  different  standard 
of  natural  healthy  morality  for  each  sex. 

This  morality  and  the  sexual  and  family  life  based 
upon  it  would  not  make  the  hetaira  superfluous  in 
our  social  system.  On  the  contrary  if  a  large  pro- 
portion of  individuals  sexually  inferior  were  ex- 
cluded from  participating  in  the  process  of  repro- 
duction, many  more  hetairas  would  be  needed. 

If  we  recognize  officially  a  double  standard  of  mor- 
ality men  would  no  longer  need  to  conceal  the  grati- 
fication they  found  with  hetairas. 

Polygamous  family  life  would  develop  in  both 
sexes  the  highest  and  noblest  form  of  procreative 
instinct,  the  conscious  desire  to  bring  into  the  world 
a  large  number  of  superior  children. 

The  development  of  that  instinct  would  do  away 
with  the  debasing  attraction  the  prostitute  has  for 
men  and  with  the  secret  desire  women,  those  at  least 
living  in  large  cities,  may  have  to  lead  the  life  of 
a  prostitute.  It  would  also  put  an  end  to  the  brutal 
treatment  meted  out  to  the  prostitute.  After  recog- 
nizing a  double  standard  of  morality,  society  could 
accept  the  hetaira  as  one  of  its  members  and  accord 
her  the  position  to  which  she  is  entitled,  a  position 
not  as  high  as  that  accorded  to  the  wife  and  mother 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  235 

but  compatible  nevertheless  with  a  measure  of  self- 
respect. 

Oriental  prostitution  which,  in  many  ways,  esthet- 
ically  and  morally,  in  a  word  humanely,  is  so  much 
nobler  than  ours  owes  its  status  to  the  public  recog- 
nition of  a  double  standard  of  morality,  the  hygienic 
advantages  of  which  are  very  obvious. 

Guilds  of  oriental  prostitutes  enforce  the  medical 
examination  of  the  house's  patrons  under  the  guise 
of  a  bath  given  by  a  feminine  attendant  before  in- 
tercourse takes  place.  It  is  not  until  like  customs 
are  adopted  in  our  Western  countries  that  we  will 
be  able  to  wage  an  effective  fight  upon  venereal  dis- 
ease. 

There  is  a  point,  however,  on  which  we  cannot 
and  should  not  imitate  the  example  of  the  Asiatics. 
The  form  of  marriage  current  in  Asia  and  based 
upon  the  double  standard  of  morality  is  polygamy. 
This  was  the  usual  form  of  marriage  among  our 
ancestors  when  they  were  still  in  a  condition  of 
savagery.  When  that  form  of  marriage  does  not  de- 
generate, as  it  does  in  the  harems  of  some  pluto- 
crats, it  keeps  the  race  mentally  and  physically 
sound.  But  it  places  the  woman  and  her  children 
at  the  absolute  mercy  of  the  man  and  in  a  condition 
of  dependence  and  slavery. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  that  it  was  the  adoption 
of  monogamy  by  the  Western  nations  and  the  conse- 
quent uplift  of  woman  that  enabled  our  civilization 
to  rise  so  rapidly  above  that  of  the  oriental  races. 


236  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

We  must  not  lose  the  ground  we  have  won  thereby. 
We  cannot  return  to  the  oriental  form  of  marriage, 
to  primitive,  barbarous  polygamy.  We  could  not  do 
it  even  if  we  had  to  obviate  at  any  cost  the  approach- 
ing danger  of  degeneration.  For  civilization  must 
not  be  allowed  to  regress. 

We  should,  however,  establish  a  sexual  modus 
vivendi  based  upon  the  recognition  of  a  double 
standard  and  which  would  reconcile  the  welfare  of 
the  race  with  the  lofty  position  civilization  accords 
woman.  This  will  require  a  good  deal  of  effort,  of 
creative  work  of  a  social  nature,  the  adoption  of  an 
entirely  new  conception  of  life. 

Haphazard  marriages  and  the  various  experi- 
ments proposed  by  our  sex  reformers  will  never  ac- 
complish that. 

Such  an  undertaking  will  encounter  many  ob- 
stacles. Nothing,  however,  is  more  worthy  of  en- 
listing the  cooperation  of  the  noblest  men.  For  it 
will  be  left  to  our  children's  children  to  prove  the 
truth  of  the  following  thesis : 

The  adoption  of  a  sexual  morality  and  of  a  sexual 
system  in  keeping  with  our  present  state  of  civiliza- 
tion is  a  question  of  life  or  death  for  the  Western 
nations. 


IDIOGAMY 
BY  PBOFESSOB  PAUL,  MANTEGAZZA,  M.D.,  Florence 

To  the  many  known  varieties  of  masculine  im- 
potence I  think  I  can  add  one  more  which,  on  the 
advice  of  my  well  known  colleague,  Professor  Com- 
paretti,  I  shall  tentatively  designate  as  Idiogamy. 
When  a  man  can  only  have  relations  with  one  cer- 
tain woman  or  one  certain  type  of  women,  and  is 
partly  or  completely  impotent  in  the  presence  of 
other  types,  he  can  be  said  to  be  suffering  from 
idiogamy. 

Animals  themselves  have  their  sexual  sympathies 
and  antipathies.  Darwin  observed  that  sort  of  feel- 
ings but  he  overrated  their  importance  in  order  to 
support  his  theory  of  sexual  selection.  We  might 
generally  state  that  when  a  male  at  rutting  time 
meets  a  female  who  finds  herself  in  a  state  of  sexual 
excitement,  the  male  is  attracted  by  an  irresistible 
overwhelming  power  towards  the  female  and  tries 
to  fecundate  her. 

When  a  young  and  robust  man,  of  any  race,  finds 
himself  in  a  condition  of  plethora  spermatica,  he 
can  have  relations  with  any  woman,  be  she  comely 
or  ugly,  young  or  old,  and  he  is  able  to  possess  her 

237 


238  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

even  if  he  doesn't  feel  the  slightest  attraction  toward 
her. 

In  studying  the  relations  between  man  and  woman, 
however,  we  must  take  into  consideration  many 
psychical  factors,  in  particular  some  factors  of  an 
esthetic  nature,  which  may  interfere  with  the  per- 
formance of  the  sexual  act  or  even  prevent  it  en- 
tirely. The  best  and  I  may  add  the  healthiest  form 
of  coitus  is  that  which  is  the  most  automatic  and 
animal,  which  resembles  so  to  speak  an  outburst, 
the  one  during  which  the  lovers  in  their  sensual 
feast  forget  all  their  hesitancy,  silence  their  remorse 
and  all  the  inner  voices,  in  a  word,  when  both  forget 
all  the  buts  and  ifs. 

By  performing  the  act  in  any  other  way  men  and 
women  may  be  more  human  and  less  animal,  but 
they  are  so  mainly  at  the  expense  of  their  love  and 
of  their  offspring. 

The  attraction  beauty  exerts  on  certain  men  is 
such  that  even  the  strongest  promptings  of  their 
sexual  need  depend  upon  it  and  are  conditioned  by 
it.  Those  aristocrats  of  love  are  impotent  in  the 
presence  of  homely  women ;  they  can  only  have  con- 
nections with  beautiful  women,  some  only  with  the 
most  beautiful  women,  for  these  only  enable  them  to 
satisfy  their  esthetic  cravings. 

The  ideal  of  perfect  love  would  then  consist  in 
selecting  among  hundreds  and  thousands  of  beau- 
tiful women  the  one  who  more  than  any  other  grati- 
fies our  esthetic  taste,  to  possess  her  and  never  to 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  239 

desire  to  touch  any  other.  This  ideal  is  not  impos- 
sible of  realization  and  in  fact  it  is  realized  more 
frequently  than  we  think  in  every  day  life. 

But  we  do  not  always  find  such  exacting  esthetic 
and  ethical  demands  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  try 
to  express  them  in  their  life;  the  truth  is  rather 
that  they  cannot  have  anything  to  do  with  women 
who  differ  too  much  from  their  ideal. 

Idiogamy  is  due  more  frequently  to  esthetic  pref- 
erences, less  frequently  to  moral  preferences.  Some 
esthetic  idiogamists  for  instance  can  only  have  rela- 
tions with  fat  women,  others,  less  numerous,  with 
thin  ones,  some  only  desire  blond  women,  some  only 
dark  ones. 

We  may  call  idiogamists,  in  the  broadest  sense  of 
the  word,  men  who  can  only  have  intercourse  with 
women  of  their  own  race.  And  many  of  us  would 
prove  to  be  idiogamists  if  we  had  to  enter  a  union 
with  a  Hottentot  woman  or  an  Australasian  negress. 

The  clinical  symptom  of  pure  idiogamy  is  then  the 
fact  that  in  spite  of  the  male 's  strong  desire  and  of 
the  female's  alluring  caresses  a  coitus  is  made  im- 
possible by  esthetic  and  ethical  factors. 

Among  the  ethical  idiogamists  we  may  count  those 
who  on  account  of  esthetic  considerations  and  con- 
victions are  incapable  of  performing  the  act  of 
coitus.  A  common  result  of  that  form  of  idiogamy 
is  that  one  may  be  absolutely  impotent  with  a  prosti- 
tute while  well  capable  of  satisfying  other  women. 

The  variety  of  idiogamy  which  prevents  many 


240  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

from  having  intercourse  with  venal  women  does  not 
always  proceed  from  a  lofty  moral  conscience,  that 
is  from  the  revulsion  of  feelings  which  one  must 
conquer  in  order  to  exchange  embraces  and  kisses 
with  those  miserable  creatures.  It  is  often  due  to 
the  fear  of  infection,  of  the  dangerous  and  repulsive 
diseases  that  lurk  in  the  genital  parts  of  the  pros- 
titute. And  in  this  respect  idiogamy  is  no  longer 
distinguishable  from  sexual  hypochondria  which  is 
simply  a  form  of  idiogamy.  The  word  could  be  well 
used  to  designate  the  embarrassment  and  the  feeling 
of  shame  which  the  beginner  experiences  when  he 
visits  houses  of  prostitution. 

A  man's  desire  may  be  very  strong,  the  woman 
may  fully  satisfy  his  esthetic  taste,  yet  one  of  the 
difficulties  I  have  mentioned  arises,  the  man  finds 
himself  in  the  wrong  mood  and  incapacitated.  The 
memory  of  the  first  failure  contains  the  germ  of  the 
second ;  the  second  prepares  the  third  and  so  an  ad 
infinitum.  I  could  cite  hundreds  of  such  cases  and 
of  such  failures  in  love;  I  will  confine  myself  to 
mentioning  a  few  which  I  have  observed  in  the 
course  of  my  long  practice. 

A  young  and  vigorous  man  falls  in  love  with  a 
woman  who  holds  his  affection  for  several  months 
without  granting  him  more  than  a  few  caresses. 
His  lovemaking  becomes  more  ardent  and  his  desire 
increases  and  finally  the  woman  declares  herself 
won  and  accepts  to  meet  her  lover  and  to  give  her- 
self to  him.  No  danger  threatens  the  lovers,  noth- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  241 

ing  lacks  for  the  consummation  of  their  happiness 
except  .  .  .  erection  on  his  part.  She  waits.  Her 
kisses,  her  caresses,  her  sighs  are  useless.  Jacet 
exiguus  .  .  .  complete  failure.  The  young  man 
leaves  her  in  despair,  cursing  himself  and  his  bad 
luck.  To  find  out  whether  he  has  become  impotent 
he  visits  a  prostitute  and  in  the  company  of  this 
cheap  mistress  he  regains  his  strength  and  his  man- 
hood. 

Another  man,  middle  aged,  married,  and  who  had 
until  then  remained  faithful  to  his  wife,  meets  one 
day  a  very  ardent  woman  who  falls  in  love  with  him 
and  who  desires  him  with  a  sudden  and  undisguised 
passion.  She  tells  him  that  she  will  come  to  his 
room  the  following  night  if  he  leaves  his  door  open. 
The  door  is  left  unlocked,  he  holds  the  overjoyed 
woman  in  his  arms,  they  spend  the  whole  night  to- 
gether but  he  can  not  satisfy  her  nor  himself.  The 
following  night,  spent  in  the  conjugal  bed,  proves 
to  him  that  he  is  not  impotent. 

In  many  cases  idiogamy  assumes  the  characters 
of  an  actual  psychosis,  of  a  mental  trouble,  accom- 
panied by  moral  or  esthetic  disturbances  which  con- 
tradict the  most  elementary  laws  and  principles  of 
biology. 

I  knew  a  man  who  could  only  have  connections 
with  very  old  women  or  with  women  who  had  been 
disfigured  by  sickness  or  presented  horrible  defor- 
mities, and  he  never  liked  them  so  well  as  when  they 


242  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

were  coated  with  dirt  and  dressed  in  beggar's  rags. 
Young  and  comely  women  left  him  absolutely  in- 
different and  he  was  impotent  in  their  company. 

This  case  borders  on  pathologic  love  and  it  would 
require  too  much  space  to  relate  the  many  similar 
cases,  less  pronounced  than  this  one,  however,  which 
I  have  mentioned  in  my  books  on  love. 

Whatever  the  cause  of  idiogamy  may  be,  the  fact 
remains  that  it  is  a  source  of  much  suffering  and 
depression,  which  in  certain  cases  leads  to  despair 
and  suicide.  This  is  where  the  physician  must  in- 
tervene and  he  will  frequently  succeed  in  restoring 
to  the  poor  idiogamist  his  peace  of  mind  and  his  re- 
pose. 

The  first  thing  to  do  in  such  a  case  is  to  institute 
a  psychic  treatment  and  to  spare  no  efforts  in  order 
to  break  down  the  tyrannic  influence  which  prevents 
the  natural  excitement  from  being  felt  and  which 
interferes  with  the  erection. 

One  must  follow  the  mode  of  treatment  I  have 
recommended  in  cases  of  sexual  hypochondria,  which 
is  only  a  form  of  idiogamy.  Gymnastic  exercises, 
gradually  increased,  hydropathic  treatment,  and 
mild  aphrodisiacs  help  to  allay  the  patient 's  trepida- 
tion at  the  time  of  his  first  attempt  and  with  the  help 
of  medical  stimulants  positive  progress  can  be  made. 

The  first  victory  is  not  easily  won,  but  the  second 
will  be  easier  than  the  first  and  after  that  a  com- 
plete cure  will  be  in  sight. 

Regarding  the   stimulants  which  are  needed  to 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  243 

overcome  the  first  obstacles  and  give  the  patient 
confidence  in  his  strength,  I  have  found  that  caffein 
administered  in  small  doses  one  day  before  the  in- 
tended connection  takes  place  gave  the  best  results. 
[The  author's  medicinal  treatment  and  his  faith  in 
caffein  seem  to  the  Editor  rather  too  simple.  The 
treatment  of  sexual  disorders  is  not  quite  so  simple 
as  that.  But  perseverance  will  usually  bring  its  re- 
ward in  the  largest  percentage  of  cases  of  sexual 
abnormalities  of  whatever  origin. — W.  J.  B.] 


CONTINENCE  IN  THE  TWO  SEXES 
BY  E.  W.  SHUFELDT,  M.D.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

IF  the  sexual  impulse  is  so  imperative  in  any 
man  or  woman,  that  either  health  or  sound  men- 
tality is  injured  through  continence,  then  it  ceases 
to  be  a  matter  of  morals  to  seek  and  attain  satisfac- 
tion, quite  as  much  so  as  though  any  other  system 
of  the  economy  was  being  starved  through  neglect, 
or  depriving  the  organs  involved  of  the  necessary 
requirements  for  their  functioning.  Morals  have 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  it.  The  question  is 
one  for  mankind  as  a  whole  to  consider,  and  it  is 
not  restricted  to  any  particular  race  or  people.  It 
is  only  our  peculiar  marital  relations  and  arrange- 
ments that  bring  up  in  our  minds  any  immorality 
with  respect  to  carrying  out,  in  a  natural  way,  the 
physiological  functions  of  any  parts  of  our  bodies. 
We  have  switched  far,  far  off  from  nature,  our 
people  have, — we  never  hear  of  the  question  of  con- 
tinence brought  up  among  savage  and  other  races 
who  lead  a  natural  existence  in  such  particulars. 
They  would,  and  do,  laugh  at  us  and  our  insane  no- 
tions in  such  matters. 

As  I  was  born  exactly  in  the  middle  of  last  cen- 
tury, I  feel  that  I  have  had,  in  my  more  than  check- 

245 


246  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

ered  career,  ample  experience  upon  which  to  base  an 
opinion  in  this  widely  discussed  question.  Some 
aspects  of  it  have  already  been  discussed  by  me  in 
the  press  at  different  times  and  in  different  places. 
It  is  a  subject  that  I  have  carefully  observed  and 
upon  which  I  have  read  a  good  deal,  and,  being  a 
physician,  have  talked  freely  about  both  with  men 
and  women. 

The  sexual  impulse  differs  in  its  demands  in  the 
sexes,  and  in  different  races  in  various  quarters  of 
the  world,  and  at  various  periods  of  the  life  of  the 
individual.  Both  with  respect  to  men  and  women, 
it  may  be  very  intense  in  some  individuals;  luke- 
warm in  others ;  and  entirely  absent  in  by  no  means 
a  few.  It  is  powerfully  affected,  when  present,  by 
social  conditions,  environment,  habits,  tastes,  meth- 
ods of  living,  various  excitants,  and  so  on. 

Taking  the  white  race,  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  stock, 
in  this  country  as  an  example,  I  am  of  the  opinion, 
that  among  normal  people  the  sexual  impulse,  or 
the  libido  sexualis,  is  manifested  in  boys  several 
years  prior  to  the  time  it  appears  in  girls.  I  should 
say  in  boys  from  8-14  and  in  girls  from  14-20,  de- 
pending very  largely  upon  a  great  many  circum- 
stances. 

The  instinct  is  much  more  easily  aroused  in  boys 
than  it  is  in  girls,  again  depending  upon  the  tem- 
perament and  individuality;  but  once  aroused  in 
either  boy  or  girl,  normally  sexed,  the  desire  is  never 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  247 

forgotten  again,  until  either  disease,  old  age,  or 
death  does  away  with  it. 

It  is  not  unusual  to  meet  with  women  in  whom  no 
sexual  desire  appeared  until  after  twenty,  and,  in 
not  a  few  cases,  until  after  thirty.  There  are  many 
exceptions  to  this  rule.  Then  many  girls  are 
autoerotic  at  twelve,  and  many  indulge  in  sexual 
relations  at  this  early  age. 

After  the  function  is  established  in  the  male  sex 
and  a  few  copulatory  acts  have  been  experienced, 
in  the  vast  majority  of  men  the  physiological  im- 
pulse is  distinctly  imperative  and  should  be  gratified 
as  often  as  the  nature  of  the  man,  in  whom  it  has 
manifested  itself,  demands.  If  not  properly  and 
regularly  attended  to,  in  the  vast  majority  of  nor- 
mally sexed  men,  the  results  are  almost  invariably 
disastrous  and  often  destroy  the  individual.  It 
may  bring  on  a  number  of  distressing  nervous  dis- 
eases ;  it  frequently  is  the  cause  of  impotency,  send- 
ing its  victim  to  a  suicide 's  grave  or  the  ward  of  an 
insane  asylum ;  it  is  responsible  for  no  end  of  alco- 
holic abuse  among  men,  who  drink  to  kill  the  burn- 
ing and  unsatisfied  desire  that  has  manifested  itself 
in  them.  Very  many  men  in  the  community,  who 
periodically  drink  to  excess,  are  either  prematurely 
impotent,  or  stand  in  constant  dread  of  it,  or  are 
the  mates  of  frigid,  sexless  wives,  who  know  noth- 
ing of  even  ordinary  affection  and  who  insist,  that 
their  husbands  abandon  all  sexual  relations  with 
them. 


248  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

A  large  number  of  our  women  are  entirely  de- 
void of  any  sexual  passion  whatever.  There  may 
exist  in  them  both  psychological  as  well  as  anatomi- 
cal reasons  for  this, — reasons  that  any  intelligent 
physician  is  more  or  less  familiar  with.  A  smaller 
percentage  have  the  libido  sexualis  fairly  well  de- 
veloped in  them,  psychologically  the  desire  is  more 
or  less  strong,  they  are  anatomically  normally  con- 
stituted, emotional,  affectionate,  and,  if  they  have 
been  educated  properly  in  sexual  congress  with  the 
opposite  sex,  they  welcome  the  opportunities  to 
gratify  the  desire.  Such  women,  however,  can  often 
abandon  all  sexual  gratification  and  not  suffer  there- 
by in  the  least. 

Finally,  there  is  a  very  much  smaller  percentage 
of  women,  perhaps  one  in  a  hundred,  who  are  nor- 
mal in  all  particulars,  and  endowed  by  nature  with 
every  essential  factor  to  revel  in  sexual  intercourse 
whenever  and  wherever  the  chance  presents  itself. 
In  these  women,  after  the  impulse  is  fully  estab- 
lished, the  satisfaction  of  it  is  absolutely  demanded, 
is  entirely  uncontrollable,  and  I  have  met  with  cases 
in  whom  the  act  was  so  imperative,  that  it  was  not 
only  performed  a  number  of  times  in  each  twenty- 
four  hours,  but  they  would  run  any  risk,  face  any 
danger,  endure  any  hardship  or  inconvenience  in 
order  to  gratify  the  burning  desire  within  them. 
[These  are  nymphomaniacs,  pathologic  specimens, 
and  with  them  we  have  nothing  to  do  in  this  dis- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  249 

cussion.  The  question  is  only  of  the  sexual  instinct 
in  normal  individuals  of  both  sexes.  Editor.] 

A  small  percentage  of  men  are  also  frigid  types, 
being  entirely  lacking  in  the  sexual  impulse,  and  in 
our  form  of  marriage  they  should  be  very  careful 
with  respect  to  the  mate  they  select  as  a  life  com- 
panion, for  of  all  the  diabolical  hells  on  earth,  it  is 
where  an  icicle  and  a  furnace  endeavor  to  fulfill 
the  requirements  of  the  marital  bond  and  live  to- 
gether. If  the  man  be  the  icicle  and  the  woman  the 
furnace,  the  case  is  bad  enough,  but  if  the  reverse 
obtains,  then  there  is  no  torture  known  to  mankind 
that  can  compare  with  it,  in  so  far  as  the  man  is 
concerned,  and  generally  no  better  examples  are  to 
be  found  in  the  matter  of  dense  ignorance  of  re- 
sults, utter  indifference  as  to  consequences,  and 
sublime  unreasonableness  at  all  times,  than  is  ex- 
emplified in  all  such  women.  And  the  remarkable 
part  of  it  is,  that  they  are  of  the  very  kind  who 
create  the  greatest  amount  of  disturbance  if  they 
become  acquainted  with  the  fact,  that  the  husband 
has  a  mistress  or  behaves  like  a  normal  man  with 
women  elsewhere. 

Kitchener  remarks  on  this  point  "that  there  are 
innumerable  women  of  this  class,  who  drive  their 
husbands  to  seek  for  other  females  with  whom  they 
can  cohabit  without  check  or  hindrance;  and  yet 
these  very  women,  if  they  knew  that  their  husbands 
had  a  connection  of  that  kind,  would  be  the  loudest 
in  their  invectives  against  immorality  and  incon- 


250  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

tinence."  In  some  respects  the  Abyssinians  have 
better  sense  than  ourselves  in  such  matters,  for,  ac- 
cording to  Madame  Sillery,  if  a  husband  is  con- 
victed of  adultery,  his  wife  is  severely  punished  or 
expelled  from  her  home,  for  they  argue,  had  she 
fully  satisfied  him  sexually,  as  she  should,  he  would 
not  have  been  confronted  with  the  necessity  of  seek- 
ing other  women,  therefore,  she,  the  wife,  was  to 
blame.  The  Abyssinian  judges  would  have  their 
hands  full,  were  they  called  upon  to  mete  out  justice 
to  such  dames  in  this  country. 

In  normal  women  the  regular  satisfaction  of  the 
sexual  desire  ' '  is  a  natural  craving, ' '  while  Napheys 
points  out  that  "  there  are  wives  who  pride  them- 
selves on  repugnance  or  distaste  for  their  conjugal 
obligation. ' '  They  speak  of  their  coldness  and  calm- 
ness of  their  senses  as  though  they  were  not  defects. 
Yet  the  sour,  shallow,  sexless  shrew  is,  as  Jordan 
says,  "an  impostor  as  a  wife,  and  her  marriage  is 
a  fraud." 

Absolute  continence  in  normal  men  is  followed 
by  the  most  distressing  results,  and  this  is  likewise 
true  of  normal,  passionate  women;  but  the  latter 
have  one  advantage.  For  as  you  truly  remark, 1 1  one 
of  the  most  dreaded  possibilities  which  stand  spec- 
ter-like before  middle-aged  continent  men,  namely, 
sexual  impotence,  leaves  women  entirely  undis- 
turbed. ' ' 

I  am  satisfied,  that  at  least  half  of  the  male  sui- 
cides in  this  country,  where  the  cause  remains  un- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  251 

known,  are  those  of  continent  married  men  in  mid- 
dle life.  Psychological  impotency  in  men,  especially 
in  some  kind  of  men,  is  easily  induced  by  an  igno- 
rant, sexually  anesthetic  wife,  who  habitually  repels 
her  husband's  advances,  and  this  form  of  impo- 
tency can  soon  become  permanent. 

Have  you  ever  observed  how  common  masturba- 
tion is  among  a  certain  class  of  insane  patients? 
how  they  break  out  in  lewd  remarks?  They  are 
middle  aged  men,  who  have  attempted  to  lead  abso- 
lutely continent  lives,  often  with  a  wife  completely 
sexually  anaesthetic  on  one  side,  and  the  dread  of 
venereal  disease,  on  the  other.  The  time  comes 
when  the  mind  must  give  way  and  some  one  of  the 
psychoses  rapidly  develops. 

Anything  is  better  than  this  for  a  race  or  a  peo- 
ple,— even  polygamy. 


CRIME  AND  LAW 

WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  CRIMINAL,  ABORTION 

BY  PROF.  J.  KOCKS,  Bonn,  Germany 

I  AM  printing  a  translation  of  Prof.  Kocks'  article 
not  because  I  fully  agree  with  the  author,  but  be- 
cause it  is  a  sign  of  the  times  and  because  it  shows 
what  extreme  freedom  of  expression  some  German 
professors  permit  themselves.  I  dare  say  if  a  pro- 
fessor in  any  of  our  universities  came  out  publicly 
with  such  views  he  would  be  at  once  ostracized,  so- 
cially and  professionally,  and  his  resignation  would 
be  politely  but  firmly  requested.  No,  I  do  not  agree 
with  Prof.  Kocks  that  all  restrictions  against  abor- 
tion should  be  abolished,  and  that  the  woman  should 
have  the  unrestricted  right  to  have  an  abortion  pro- 
duced on  herself,  irrespective  of  the  month  of  gesta- 
tion. Abortion  is  a  nasty  business,  ethically, 
esthetically  and  physically,  though  not  infrequently 
it  is  fully  justifiable  as  the  lesser  of  two  evils.  Pre- 
vention of  conception  is  a  much  simpler,  a  much 
more  ethical  and  a  healthier  way.  And  one  of  the 
reasons,  we,  the  advocates  of  neo-malthusianism  or 
a  rational  and  hygienic  prophylaxis  of  conception, 
are  so  earnest  in  our  propaganda  is  because  we 

253 


254  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

know  of  the  terribly  widespread  evil  of  abortion, 
with  its  dangers  to  the  psyche,  to  health  and  to  life. 
1  'Better  to  prevent  than  to  destroy."  But  Dr. 
Kocks'  contribution  deserves  reading. — W.  J.  E. 

The  gynecologic  literature  of  late  years  has  dealt 
considerably  with  the  subject  of  criminal  abortion, 
and  quite  recently  some  minds  again  clashed  on  this 
question. 

Thus  in  the  Zentralblatt  f.  Gynakologie,  No.  30, 
of  the  current  year,  Max  Hirsch,  opposing  von  Win- 
kel  and  Brunn,  refers  to  his  own  works,  to  Flesch, 
von  Liszt,  Fritsch  and  others. 

What  Hirsch  says  is  so  clear,  that  for  the  un- 
prejudiced no  further  discussion  is  needed.  Social 
currents  cannot  be  stemmed  by  laws  and  police. 
But  the  law  itself  produces  crime  by  causing  viola- 
tions of  it.  If  it  is  directed  only  against  pretended 
and  imaginary  crimes,  then  it  is  an  evil.  If  there 
were  no  laws  against  induced  abortion,  there  would 
be  no  crimes  of  that  kind  and  poor  humanity  would 
be  spared  much  of  its  misery. 

In  Holland  there  is  *  no  §175  against  homosex- 
uality of  adults  and  thus  there  are  no  crimes  of 
that  kind. 

In  this  respect  the  Roman  Law  shines  as  brightly 
as  the  sun  for  our  present  day  law  makers. 

The  Romans  as  well  as  the  Greeks  did  not  let 

*  Should  be  ' '  there  was, ' '  for  the  present  clerical-governmental 
clique  introduced  it  again. — Ed. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  255 

loose  their  laws  agains  unavoidable  habits  of  the 
people,  even  when  these  habits  appeared  to  them  as 
vices.  On  a  Roman  potsherd,  found  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Remagen,  we  read:  ''He  who  keeps  on 
treating  himself  with  boys  and  girls  takes  poor  ac- 
count of  his  purse." 

The  criticism  of  the  potter,  who  scratched  the 
Latin  saying — probably  a  mutilated  distich — on  the 
bottom  of  the  vase,  does  not  go  farther.  Why  should 
not  modern  nations  possess  such  an  equanimity? 

In  the  Middle  Ages  capital  punishment  was  im- 
posed for  smoking  tobacco!  Now  our  popes  and 
archbishops  themselves  smoke.  Smoking  certainly 
is  a  great  evil.  The  wholesome  air  is  poisoned  for 
the  non-smokers !  But  the  pipes  are  in  the  majority ! 
Well,  the  majority  makes  the  law,  and  the  minority 
has  to  keep  quiet.  Surely,  our  whole  parliamenta- 
rism is  founded  on  this  basis.  But  those  laws  should 
be  abolished  which  create  crimes  where  none  exist. 

People  smoked  in  spite  of  the  prohibition,  per- 
ceived the  disadvantage  of  the  law,  repealed  it 
again,  and  nowadays  every  one  smokes.  Some 
don 't,  for  their  health  is  dear  to  them,  or  they  have 
a  disgust  for  tobacco.  So  is  it  with  Kynddie. 

To  a  great  many  people  it  is  as  hoggish  as  the 
smoking  of  a  stinking  pipe,  of  a  cigar,  or  a  ciga- 
rette saturated  with  saliva.  But  let  him  who  wishes 
smoke,  provided  he  does  not  spoil  the  air  for  others 
(i.  e.  in  the  open  air  and  in  smoking  rooms,  where 
tobacco  saturated  smokers  mutually  puff  at  each 


256  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

other).  If  according  to  the  old  Fritz  everybody 
should  be  permitted  to  become  sanctified  after  his 
own  fashion,  why  should  not  everybody  be  happy 
on  this  earthshell  after  his  own  fashion,  so  long  as 
he  does  not  annoy  his  neighbors  by  it ! 

What  is  true  of  smoking,  homosexuality,  of  Les- 
bian and  Kynadian  love,  is  true  of  induced  abor- 
tion. The  Romans  even  issued  a  law,  which  pro- 
nounced the  right  of  the  women  to  the  fruit  of  their 
womb  before  birth.  It  reads:  "Infans  pars  visce- 
rum  matris!"  The  fetus  is  a  part  of  the  mother's 
viscera. — This  settles  the  matter.  As  the  mother 
is  permitted  to  remove  her  ovary,  her  uterus,  so 
she  was  also  permitted  to  remove  the  fetus,  accord- 
ing to  the  Roman  Law. — And  wise  were  the  Romans 
in  this  law.  They  avoided  making  laws,  which  arti- 
ficially create  crimes  out  of  human  rights! 

Modern  Lycurguses,  learn  from  them! 

All  tobacco  prohibitions,  all  prohibitions  against 
homosexuality  were  of  no  use;  in  spite  of  threat- 
ened capital  punishment  people  smoked  and  prac- 
ticed Lesbian  and  Kynadian  "love."  This  word  is 
very  characteristic  of  the  hypocrisy  of  the  world. 
The  word  "love"  is  applied  to  the  legitimate  and 
illegitimate  relief  of  the  organism  from  its  oppres- 
sing secretions!  People  inveigh  against  the  prac- 
tical and  at  the  same  time  poetical  Romans,  who  de- 
fied this  natural  necessity  in  Eros,  in  Amor.  Why? 
Did  not  Catholicism  also  make  a  Sacrament  out  of 
it,  at  the  same  time  cunningly  introducing  celibacy 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  257 

for  its  soldiers!  So  stop  your  storms  of  indigna- 
tion on  account  of  the  old  Gods  of  Love!  First  of 
all  abolish  the  Sacrament  of  the  marriage  tie ! 

Now  we  come  to  the  fight  against  induced  abor- 
tion, a  fight  which  is  absolutely  in  vain.  As  the  pro- 
hibited tobacco*  remained  in  spite  of  the  laws,  as  the 
prohibited  homosexuality  remained  in  spite  of  the 
laws,  so  remains  induced  abortion  in  spite  of  the 
laws! 

Leave  to  the  woman  the  right  of  her  body  and  its 
contents!  The  world  would  not  die  out  on  this  ac- 
count. Germany  does  not  go  to  ruin  on  this  ac- 
count. Bullying  goes  for  nothing,  we  knew  that 
already  when  we  used  to  play  as  boys.  The  State 
has  no  right  to  attack  personal  freedom  unneces- 
sarily. 

The  Englishmen  maintain,  that  even  alcohol, 
which  causes  much  more  harm  than  criminal  abor- 
tion, should  not  be  prohibited,  that  the  prohibition 
of  alcohol  is  an  encroachment  on  personal  liberty ! 

Max  Hirsch  sees  a  remedy  against  criminal  abor- 
tion in  the  betterment  of  the  economic  conditions! 
I  do  not  share  this  view.  France,  the  rich,  has  its 
two-children  system,  we  have  introduced  now  (since 
we  became  richer)  the  three-children  system,  while 
the  Russians  have  still  retained  their  four  [and 
eight]  children  system.  But  don't  get  uneasy! 
Leave  men  and  women  in  their  private  life  alone! 
Here  laws  are  not  heeded  anyhow,  and  they  create 
artificial  crimes,  where  none  exist. 


258  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

Those  who  are  aware,  as  we  gynecologists  are,  of 
the  great  misfortune,  which  is  caused  by  an  unde- 
sired  pregnancy,  know,  what  a  blessing  the  Roman 
Law  would  be.  "Infans  pars  viscerum  matris." 
And  those  who,  as  we  physicians,  being  tied  by  the 
law,  must  permit  this  misery  to  exist,  will  compre- 
hend the  Romans ! 

I  saw  the  despair  of  a  respected  colleague  over  his 
young  unmarried,  but  pregnant  sister;  the  despair 
of  a  pregnant  unmarried  daughter  of  an  esteemed 
evangelical  minister,  of  the  unhappy  niece  of  an- 
other highly  respected  colleague,  of  a  young  girl 
impregnated  by  her  own  young  brother, — and  a 
great  number  of  other  misfortunes,  which  I  had  to 
permit  to  continue  unrelieved,  because  there  exists 
the  mischievous  paragraph  forbidding  under  severe 
punishment  medical  aid  in  such  a  calamity.  Gor- 
dian  Knots  must  be  cut!  Away  with  the  laws 
which  achieve  nothing  and  only  bring  misery  to  man- 
kind! Away  with  them! 

And  if  it  were  imposed  upon  physicians  as  a  duty 
to  bring  about  abortions  upon  the  request  of  the 
pregnant  woman,  how  little  dangerous  they  would 
be  then,  if  we  proceeded  according  to  the  remark- 
able suggestions  made  by  Fritsch. 

So,  away  with  the  bad  laws  which  produce  arti- 
ficial crimes  instead  of  preventing  evil,  because  they 
are  directed  against  artificially  created  pretended 
evils!  Away  with  §175,  away  with  the  sections  of 
the  penal  law  against  artificial  abortion! 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  259 

Back  to  the  Roman  Law  "Infans  pars  viscerum 
matris!"  The  fetus  is  a  part  of  the  mother's  vis- 
cera! Therefore  she  alone  has  the  right  to  decide 
about  it. 


IS  IT  REALLY  IMPOSSIBLE  TO  MAKE  PROS- 
TITUTION HARMLESS  AS  FAR  AS 
INFECTION  IS  CONCERNED? 

BY  PBOF.  A.  NEISSEE,  Breslau,  Germany 

NOT  only  my  opponents  but  even  my  friends  will 
reprimand  me  as  a  hopeless  optimist  when  I  reply 
to  the  above  question  that  I  regard  it  as  wholly 
possible,  even  though  we  may  not  absolutely  make 
all  prostitutes  free  from  danger,  at  least  to  diminish 
their  infectiveness  to  such  an  extent  that  the  infec- 
tion of  men  will  be  much  reduced ;  this  in  turn  will 
naturally  have  a  favorable  reaction  on  the  spread  of 
venereal  disease  among  women. 

I  shall  maintain  this  optimistic  outlook  until  the 
error  of  my  ways  is  shown  me  by  seriously  under- 
taken investigations — and  such  have  not  been  made 
as  yet.  And  I  shall  not  cease  to  raise  my  voice  for 
the  reform  of  the  supervision  of  prostitution,  feel- 

EDITORIAL  NOTE — Prof.  Neisser  is  not  a  lightheaded  reformer  or  an 
overzealous  radical  and  whatever  the  discoverer  of  the  gonococcus  has 
to  say  is  worth  listening  to.  We  are  certainly  pleased  to  see  that 
among  other  things  he  advises  instructing  the  prostitutes  in  the  use 
of  venereal  prophylactics,  as  a  measure  of  great  importance  in  the 
tattle  against  venereal  disease.  This  is  a  measure  which  we  have 
been  advocating  for  years,  and  this  advocacy  drew  upon  our  head 
the  anathemas  of  the  clerical  and  of  the  ultra  good  members  of  our 
own  profession. — W.  J.  E. 

261 


262  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

ing  as  I  do  that  not  only  is  the  widest  kind  of  super- 
vision justified  but  that  such  supervision  should  be 
subjected  to  drastic  reform. 

I  shall  not  here  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  many 
moot  points  in  connection  with  the  control  of  vene- 
real disease  but  shall  take  up  the  subject  from  the 
point  of  view  that  in  addition  to  the  necessity  of 
carrying  the  warfare  against  the  men  concerned  in 
the  problem  we  must  direct  our  energies  against 
prostitution  in  the  very  widest  sense  of  the  word. 
Now  what  shall  we  understand  by  "  prostitution  in 
the  very  widest  sense"? 

By  this  term  we  must  understand  not  only  the 
relatively  small  number  of  prostitutes  whom  the 
police  now  register  and  control  by  virtue  of  the  pres- 
ent administrative  regulations  but  also  the  infinitely 
larger  number  of  young  girls  and  women  who  do  not 
follow  the  trade  of  prostitution  as  a  profession  and 
the  only  obvious  means  of  livelihood,  but  who 
through  their  absolutely  unselected,  constantly 
changing  and  frequent  sexual  intercourse  are  much 
more  dangerous  than  real  professional  prostitutes. 
As  has  been  mentioned  in  the  case  of  this  host  of 
"private"  prostitutes — and  most  "loose  relations" 
involve  this  class — sexual  relations  do  not  form  the 
only  source  of  income;  they  are  carried  as  a  sort 
of  side  line.  These  women  indulge  for  pleasure  and 
for  "love,"  circumstances  which,  however,  from 
the  hygienic  point  of  view,  in  no  wise  change  the. 
dangerous  character  of  these  women.  For  the  sani- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  263 

tary  mischief  depends  entirely  on  the  frequency  of 
promiscuous  intercourse  to  which  these  women  are 
parties,  and  not  on  the  price. 

In  the  face  of  such  complications  can  one  hope  for 
the  sanitation  of  this  gigantic  type  of  prostitution  fed 
by  shop  girls,  saleswomen,  maids,  etc!  I  believe  it 
possible  to  effect  an  improvement  in  the  present 
status  if  an  earnest  attempt  were  made  to  bring  as 
many  as  possible  of  the  girls  belonging  to  these 
classes  under  medical  observation  and  treatment,  and 
if  this  were  accomplished  through  education  and  per- 
suasion rather  than  by  force.  Especially  should  this 
compulsory  treatment  and  supervision  be  free  from 
the  feature  of  registration  and  its  associated  aspects 
which  tend  to  degrade  and  deprave  the  girls,  un- 
less in  individual  cases,  after  thorough  investiga- 
tion such  measures  should  prove  absolutely  neces- 
sary. 

Unfortunately  it  is  hard  for  the  police  to  control 
these  women.  The  law  allows  them  to  proceed 
against  "  persons  who  practice  professional  prosti- 
tution." But  since  these  "private"  women  who 
constitute  the  greatest  danger  for  the  spread  of 
venereal  diseases  cannot  easily  be  proven  to  come 
under  the  legal  head  of  practicing  prostitution,  the 
police  must  stand  by  powerless. 

And  yet  when  one  really  wishes  to  arrive  at  some- 
thing, compulsion  cannot  be  done  away  with.  For 
any  one  who  has  had  to  deal  with  these  people  in 
the  capacity  of  physician,  official,  police  assistant, 


264  SEXUAL  TBUTHS 

or  probation  officer,  knows  that  without  far-reach- 
ing compulsion  only  an  exceptional  case  will  reform, 
or  what  concerns  us  more  nearly,  undergo  a  real 
thorough  course  of  treatment.  In  most  cases  treat- 
ment will  be  avoided  by  these  women  because  of 
stupidity,  ignorance,  frivolity,  indifference,  conven- 
ience, etc. 

An  important  factor  which  deters  many  of  these 
girls  from  being  treated  even  when  they  are  aware 
that  they  are  diseased,  is  the  fear  of  a  forcible  in- 
ternship in  a  hospital.  Accordingly,  we  must  strive 
to  eliminate  hospital  treatment  as  much  as  possi- 
ble and  to  carry  out  the  treatment  just  as  far  as 
it  is  at  all  conceivable  on  the  ambulatory  plan.  I 
am  familiar  with  all  the  objections  that  can  be 
raised  against  ambulatory  treatment,  and  I  admit 
without  reserve  that  if  it  were  possible  to  treat  all 
patients  in  hospitals  the  hygienic  result  would  be 
infinitely  better  than  that  obtained  from  ambulatory 
treatment.  There  is,  however,  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  since  at  present  only  a  small  number  of  the  dis- 
eased girls  can  be  subjected  to  such  a  hospital  treat- 
ment, a  much  better  general  average  of  cures  can 
be  obtained  if  we  were  to  try  to  increase  the  total 
number  of  those  who  can  be  subjected  to  treatment 
in  general. 

I  therefore  make  the  following  suggestions : 
1.     One  or  more  dispensaries,  clinics,   or  relief 
stations — I  prefer  the  latter  name — depending  on 
the  size  of  the  city,  should  be  established  ' '  for  girls 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  265 

and  women  suffering  from  female  or  venereal  dis- 
eases." I  would  not  recommend  the  wording  "for 
venereal  diseases"  alone. 

2.  As  physicians,  only  trained  specialists — men 
and  women — should  be  engaged.     They  should  be 
assisted  by  as  many  trained  nurses  as  may  be  re- 
quired.    These  physicians  should  be  paid  so  well 
that  they  should  be  able  to  give  up  several  hours  in 
the  morning  as  well  as  in  the  afternoon,  and  what 
is  more  important  during  the  evening.    They  should 
be  willing  when  necessary  to  give  up  their  private 
practice  in  order  to  help  and  treat  the  women  en- 
trusted to  them.    The  evening  hours  are  important 
in  order  that  the  patients  may  come  for  consulta- 
tion without  interfering  with  their  work. 

3.  In  addition  to  those  who  come  for  treatment 
of  their  own  free  will,  there  should  also  be  accepted 
individuals  who  have  come  under  police  notice  but 
who    have   not   yet    been    registered;    individuals, 
therefore,  who  for  the  present  should  be  subject  to 
compulsory  treatment  only. 

4.  I  also  wish  to  have  control  over  the  registered 
women  according  to  a  scheme  of  treatment  in  relief 
stations  which  I  shall  speak  of  later.    But  I  wish 
to  reserve  the  polyclinics  spoken  of  heretofore  for 
those  who  seek  treatment  voluntarily  and  for  those 
who  are  not  yet  registered. 

5.  The  clinics  ought  to  keep  records  of  cases  in 
which  the  names  and  diagnoses  may  be  entered  co- 
ordinately  so  that  in  case  the  patient  wished  to 


266  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

change  her  doctor — there  should  be  regulations 
against  a  too  frequent  change — provision  would  be 
made  for  a  uniform  method  of  observation  and  treat- 
ment. Naturally  hospital  treatment  should  remain 
in  vogue  wherever  it  is  required  for  medical  or  per- 
sonal reasons.  On  the  other  hand,  whenever  possi- 
ble it  should  be  replaced  or  supplemented  by  ambula- 
tory treatment. 

6.  The  female  police  and  relief  station  nurses 
should  cooperate  both  to  support  the  physicians  in 
their  efforts  to  institute  regular  treatment  by  look- 
ing up  the  absentees  among  the  patients,  and  also 
to  aid  the  women  in  a  social  way  with  their  advice 
and  services. 

I  expect  that  the  salvation  army  will  be  of  real 
service  in  the  effort  to  warn  the  more  thoughtless 
girls,  ignorant  of  the  trend  of  their  ways,  and  to 
save  them  from  sinking  into  vagabondage  and  pros- 
titution. The  efforts  of  this  institution  should  be 
supported  by  public  means  much  more  freely  than 
has  been  the  case  in  the  past.  I  would  not,  how- 
ever, leave  out  the  ' '  morals  police ' '  entirely ;  I  would 
merely  limit  its  activity  and  keep  it  as  a  last  re- 
source. 

In  the  future  as  heretofore  the  new  female  mor- 
als police  should  accost  the  girls  who  walk  the  streets 
with  the  sole  object  of  enticing  men,  should  attempt 
to  get  their  names,  should  warn  them,  and  finally, 
if  necessary  in  exceptional  cases,  should  arrest 
them.  Indeed  this  should  be  done  much  more  often 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  267 

than  heretofore.  And  it  all  can  be  done,  since,  as 
explained  above,  the  new  procedure  will  avoid  those 
features  which  have  formerly  hurt  the  social  stand- 
ing of  the  poor  creatures  who  so  often  follow  their 
thoughtless  inclinations. 

Especially  would  I  regard  it  as  a  great  step  in 
advance  if  these  persons  would  not  be  arrested  and 
detained  until  the  next  day  in  the  police  courts. 
Following  the  example  of  the  American  night  police 
courts,  could  not  these  girls  appear  at  night  before 
a  high  police  official  who  would  hear  them,  warn 
them,  and  find  them  some  asylum  so  that  only  the 
really  wicked  and  repeated  offenders  would  remain 
in  the  hands  of  the  police  f 

I  do  not  belong  to  those  who  look  to  official  regu- 
lation as  the  entire  solution  of  the  problem.  To  be 
sure  the  authority  of  the  police  must  be  regulated 
by  fundamental  laws.  However,  as  far  as  the  prac- 
tical treatment  of  given  individuals  engaged  in  pros- 
titution is  concerned,  the  police  must  be  given  free 
play  in  order  to  be  able  to  individualize.  Naturally 
high-handed  procedures  on  the  part  of  officials  may 
arise,  but  preventive  measures  can  be  easily  devised 
to  overcome  these. 

I  am  still,  as  I  have  been,  a  supporter  of  "pre- 
ventive control, ' '  only  this  control  should  have  more 
of  a  medical  character,  and  be  combined  with  medi- 
cal treatment  and  should  omit  as  much  as  possible 
the  feature  of  registration  with  the  resultant  injury 
to  the  social  standing  of  the  person  affected.  Must 


268  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

it  always  be  brought  up  against  a  girl  that  she  was 
at  one  time  " registered,"  even  if  she  lives  hence- 
forth a  perfectly  unobjectionable  and  orderly  life! 

In  addition  to  these  coercive  measures  there  must 
be  a  much  more  extensive  plan  of  instruction  and 
explanation  for  these  young  women  who  are  hence- 
forth put  on  their  own  feet  and  have  to  shape  their 
course  and  make  their  living  for  the  most  part  with- 
out parental  influence  or  other  protection.  The 
great  majority  of  these  persons  have  naturally  no 
idea  of  the  injurious  results  of  sexual  intercourse, 
no  notion  of  the  threatening  misery  of  prostitution, 
at  most  an  indefinite  fear  of  pregnancy.  In  my  opin- 
ion the  lodges  and  trade-unions  could  offer  good 
assistance  in  this  connection  by  organizing  their 
women  members  through  talks  and  written  articles. 

Obviously,  I  desire  to  have  the  entire  system  as 
mild  and  free  as  is  at  all  possible.  Coercion  should 
be  directed  only  through  the  form  of  physicians' 
orders  and  police  supervision  should  be  limited  only 
to  those  who,  despite  all  instruction,  warning,  and 
advice  persist  in  the  practice  of  prostitution.  But 
even  the  latter  group  should  be  separated  into  those 
who  promptly  and  willingly  follow  medical  advice 
and  those  who  resist  it.  Furthermore,  it  is  of  im- 
portance to  separate  from  this  group  of  out  and 
out  prostitutes,  by  means  of  sanitarium  treatment 
or  in  some  similar  fashion,  the  following  groups : 

1.  Those  very  young  girls  who  are  following 
prostitution  as  a  recent  venture  and  who  offer  hope 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  269 

of  being  brought  up  to  be  orderly  citizens.  Here  I 
again  repeat  that  their  sojourn  in  the  asylums  or 
similar  institutions  should  not  be  made  to  appear  to 
them  as  penal  servitude,  as  is  at  present  generally 
the  case.  Especially  does  it  seem  that  a  too  strict 
''church"  or  ''holy"  atmosphere  is  out  of  place. 
All  these  institutions  should  be  conducted  in  a  more 
cheerful  tone  and  should  be  linked  with  educational 
and  vocational  departments.  If  for  any  reason  an 
asylum  cannot  be  provided  for  these  young  girls, 
or  when  there  is  a  long  interval  between  the  hos- 
pital treatment  and  the  institution  of  further  edu- 
cational or  vocational  care,  some  special  provision 
must  be  made  for  these  recruits  from  prostitution. 
I  regard  it  as  wrong  to  omit  supervision  with  con- 
trol of  these  minors,  as  is  now  the  case.  These 
young  people,  when  they  become  prostitutes,  are 
the  most  dangerous  of  all.  It  is  among  their  num- 
ber that  the  contagious  forms  of  the  venereal  dis- 
eases are  most  widespread,  and  as  the  prettiest  and 
youngest  of  the  prostitute  class  they  are  most  sought 
after  by  the  men. 

2.  Those  who  are  mentally  defective  or  actually 
mentally  diseased,  and  those  who  because  of  their 
psychic  constitution  constitute  the  so-called  a-  or 
anti-social  elements,  are  entitled  to  permanent  pro- 
tection. In  fact  all  women,  who  despite  every  warn- 
ing, persist  in  practicing  prostitution  should  be  sub- 
jected to  thorough  psychiatric  observation  and  treat- 
ment. 


270  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

In  what  way  then  can  the  venereal  danger  arising 
from  all  these  prostitutes  be  overcome  by  ambula- 
tory treatment? 

1.  As  far  as  chancroids  (ulcera  mollia)  are  con- 
cerned, almost  all  such  cases  can  be  discovered  by 
careful  examination.  If  the  examination  of  all  reg- 
istered persons  was  to  take  place  twice  a  week 
hardly  a  single  chancroid,  the  incubation  period  of 
which  lasts  three  days  on  an  average,  could  escape 
detection. 

Every  soft  chancre,  as  soon  as  discovered,  should 
be  carefully  wiped  with  pure  carbolic  acid  and 
dressed  with  a  small  cotton  pledget  covered  with. 
10%  protargol-petrolatum.  lodoform,  though  a  val- 
uable specific,  cannot  be  used  because  its  odor  is  not 
readily  disguised.  Twenty-four  hours  later  another 
examination  should  be  made  when  the  physician 
must  decide  from  the  results  of  the  cauterization 
whether  ambulatory  treatment  will  suffice  or 
whether  •  hospital  care  must  be  instituted.  If  the 
latter  step  is  unnecessary,  daily  inspection  and  treat- 
ment should  be  carried  out  with  a  repetition  of  the 
carbolic  acid  treatment  if  necessary.  In  addition 
the  patient  is  instructed  always  to  smear  the  vaginal 
introitus  freely  with  pure  petrolatum.  Naturally  I 
count  on  the  probability  of  the  girl's  carrying  on 
sexual  intercourse,  and  believe  that  this  procedure 
will  not  only  protect  the  man  who  visits  her  from 
infection  but  will  also  prevent  the  transportation  of 
the  ulcers  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  original  lesion 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  271 

as  far  as  the  woman  herself  is  concerned.  Ofttimes 
the  pain  due  to  the  ulcers  or  beginning  bubos  will 
lead  the  girls  to  refrain  from  intercourse  volun- 
tarily or  to  seek  hospital  treatment  of  their  own 
accord. 

2.  As  regards  gonorrhea,  I  believe  definitely  that 
free  smearing  of  the  introitus  with  petrolatum  and 
similar  treatment  of  the  urethra!  aperture  must 
needs  offer  definite  protection  against  infection.  At 
any  rate  prevention  of  fornical  and  uterine  gonorrhea 
will  be  possible  by  means  of  a  vaginal  tampon, 
soaked  in  fat  or  smeared  with  petrolatum  placed  in 
front  of  the  cervix.  The  latter  will  also  protect  the 
men  from  infection  out  of  the  uterus.  There  is  also 
the  theoretical  possibility  of  discharging  such  pros- 
titutes earlier  from  the  hospital — cases  which  would 
otherwise  have  to  remain  for  months  on  account  of 
a  cervical  or  uterine  gonorrhea — without  having 
them  do  damage  to  the  community. 

The  question  can  even  be  brought  up  as  to  whether 
all  those  affected  with  urethral  gonorrhea  needs 
must  be  subjected  to  hospital  treatment  or  at  least 
whether  they  could  not  be  discharged  much  sooner 
than  is  the  case  at  present. 

All  reasonably  sensible  persons  who  take  daily 
injections  and  who  present  themselves  for  daily 
treatment  can  be  made  practically  harmless.  This 
is  important  because  one  can  never  feel  certain  that 
they  will  restrain  from  sexual  intercourse.  The 
treatment  I  suggest  consists  in  the  introduction  of  a 


272  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

urethral  suppository  containing  10  to  20%  protar- 
gol  and  composed  as  follows : 

3      Protargol   , 10-20% 

Amyli . . 30.0 

Tragacanthse    .... ,. . . —  .  4.0 

Pulv.  acaciae  20.0* 

Such  suppositories  to  be  introduced  once  or  bet- 
ter twice  daily.  The  parts  are  then  covered  with 
cotton  so  that  the  melting  mass  may  remain  in  the 
urethra  as  long  as  possible.  Many  girls  can  learn 
to  introduce  the  suppositories  by  themselves. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  therapeutic  effi- 
ciency of  suppository  treatment.  To  be  sure  one  can 
not  always  succeed  in  killing  all  the  gonococci  quick- 
ly or  at  once.  As  far  as  the  prostitutes  in  ques- 
tion are  concerned,  however,  the  end  is  achieved 
that  the  degree  of  contagion  is  diminished,  often 
as  well  as  completely  eliminated.  Moreover  by  con- 
tinuous treatment  over  a  long  period  complete  cure 
is  possible.  Now  if  the  prostitutes  were  to  carry 
out  this  simple  and  painless  suppository  treatment 
daily — their  own  mistresses  can  do  it  for  them — 
they  can  certainly  do  without  hospital  treatment, 
and  what  is  more  important  for  our  purposes,  they 
can  be  made  much  less  infectious  or  absolutely  non- 

*  It  is  not  of  course  to  be  assumed  that  those  quantities  are  for 
one  suppository.  Those  are  the  proportions  for  forming  the  sup- 
pository mass;  and  of  this  mass  suppositories  are  to  be  formed 
weighing  0.5  to  0.8  (8  to  12  grains). — W.  .1.  R. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  273 

infectious.  Irritation  of  the  mucosa,  or  other  mani- 
festations which  might  interfere  with  their  voca- 
tion are  not  accompaniments  of  these  procedures. 

As  a  result,  whether  through  education  or  per- 
suasion, or  even  through  force,  the  girls  will  be- 
come accustomed  to  this  new  form  of  "control." 
As  soon  as  they  observe  that  by  this  means  they 
are  sent  less  often  to  the  hospital  and  that  their 
stay  when  in  the  hospital  is  shorter,  they  will  quick- 
ly fall  in  with  this  plan  of  treatment. 

The  simplest  measures  are  those  directed  against 
the  danger  of  syphilitic  infection  from  the  prosti- 
tutes. As  far  as  protecting  the  woman  herself  from 
infection  is  concerned,  it  is  sufficient  to  smear  the 
mucosa  and  vaginal  region  with  petrolatum.  Al- 
though I  believe  that  the  protection  is  due  to  the 
mechanical  nature  of  the  fatty  layer,  it  is  quite  pos- 
sible that  a  disinfecting  influence  may  be  exercised 
by  chemicals  added  to  or  present  in  the  salve.  As 
is  well  known  Metchnikoff  employed  a  33%  calomel 
salve  for  this  purpose.  I  believe,  however,  that  the 
salve  brought  out  by  Siebert  after  extensive  prophy- 
laxis experiments  and  containing  an  aqueous  bi- 
chloride solution,  is  more  powerful.*  However,  no 
one  familiar  with  prostitution  will  rely  on  the  con- 

*  The  Siebert-Neisser  ointment  has  the  following  composition : 
Mercuric  chloride  0.3,  sodium  chloride  1.0,  tragacanth  2.0,  starch 
4.0,  gelatin  0.7,  alcohol  25.0,  glycerin  17.0,  water  to  make  100.0. 
I  find  it  difficult  or  impossible  to  prepare  this  salve  extemporaneously 
of  a  satisfactory  consistency. — W.  J.  R. 


274  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

tinned  use  of  these  preventive  measures  by  indi- 
viduals. One  will  always  have  to  reckon  with  new 
syphilitic  infections  or  with  infectious  recidives.  On 
the  other  hand,  as  I  have  often  claimed  in  this  con- 
nection, I  believe  that  this  danger  can  be  abso- 
lutely overcome  by  the  prophylactic  use  of  salvarsan 
or  arsenophenylglycin  treatment. 

Even  though  we  know  that  latent  syphilitics,  i.  e. 
those  free  from  manifest  symptoms,  are  not  abso- 
lutely free  from  danger  and  that  infections  may  also 
arise  from  them,  it  follows  nevertheless  that  they 
are  incomparably  less  dangerous  than  those  with 
manifest  symptoms.  Moreover  it  is  just  as  obvious 
that  by  means  of  appropriate  treatment  with  ar- 
senicals  they  can  be  rapidly  made  symptom-free 
and  kept  so  for  a  long  time. 

I  believe,  however,  that  it  is  not  only  those  prosti- 
tutes whose  syphilis  is  established  who  should  be 
so  treated,  but  that  all  those  who  follow  the  trade 
of  prostitution  and  indiscriminate  sexual  inter- 
course should  be  subjected  to  such  treatment.  By 
this  means  such  persons  will  have  a  new  infection 
nipped  in  the  bud  and  any  existing  but  overlooked 
syphilis  will  be  rendered  harmless  or  even  entirely 
cured. 

If  one  does  not  wish  to  go  as  far  as  this,  at  least 
measures  should  be  taken  to  have  a  Wassermann  re- 
action performed  once  or  twice  a  year  on  every 
prostitute  whose  syphilis  is  not  definitely  established 
and  suggest  treatment  to  her.  This  treatment  should 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  275 

consist  of  three  courses  a  year,  each  course  consist- 
ing of  four  to  five  injections.  If  salvarsan  is  chosen, 
the  intravenous  method  is  the  only  one  to  be  con- 
sidered for  it  is  the  only  procedure  to  which  the 
prostitutes  will  submit.  Unless  they  are  very  skill- 
fully carried  out  both  the  aqueous  salvarsan  injec- 
tions as  well  as  the  "Joha"  (Schindler)  method 
often  cause  pain,  and  as  is  well  known,  at  times 
even  marked  infiltrations  and  severe  necroses. 

However,  intravenous  injections  are  not  always 
easy  to  make.  As  soon  as  some  of  the  solution 
misses  the  vein  very  troublesome  indurations  occur. 
Now  and  then,  also,  some  blood  escapes  from  the 
vein  and  striking  and  persistent  discolorations  oc- 
cur which  frighten  the  prostitutes  and  which  they 
regard  as  damaging  to  their  trade,  so  that  for  this 
reason  they  will  not  undergo  treatment  voluntarily. 
Instead  of  salvarsan,  however,  one  can  choose  Ehr- 
lich's  arsenophenylglycin  (418).  This  also  has  a 
wonderful  specific  action  on  the  spirochetes  of 
syphilis  and  has  also  a  preventive  and  abortive  in- 
fluence. It  has  the  following  advantages  over  sal- 
varsan in  this  connection : 

Aqueous  solutions,  especially  with  the  addition 
of  \%  novocain,  when  injected  intragluteally,  are 
absolutely  painless  and  do  not  cause  the  slightest 
infiltratious.  In  a  series  of  more  than  one  thou- 
sand injections  I  have  not  seen  a  local  disturbance 
in  a  single  instance.  When  properly  employed,  the 
preparation  is  splendidly  borne. 


276  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

A  course  of  treatment  generally  consists  of  five 
injections.  For  the  first  injection  0.2  to  0.3  gm.  is 
given  according  to  the  patient's  constitution,  for 
subsequent  treatments  0.4  to  0.5  at  each  dose.  The 
injections  are  given  once  weekly,  intragluteally. 
The  yellow  powder,  which  is  put  up  in  air-tight 
ampoules  (like  neo-salvarsan)  is  dissolved  so  that 
0.1  gm.  corresponds  to  1  cc.  of  1%  novocain  solu- 
tion. It  is  of  importance,  as  with  neo-salvarsan, 
that  the  solution  be  prepared  at  once  after  the  am- 
poule is  opened  and  that  no  time  be  lost  in  its  in- 
jection. Long  exposure  to  the  air  must  be  absolutely 
avoided  as  very  poisonous  arsenic  compounds  may 
result  from  oxidation. 

I  shall  not  enter  here  into  the  question  of  the  dan- 
ger of  salvarsan  or  arsenophenylglycin  treatment. 
I  believe  that  it  is  settled  once  for  all  for  the  great 
majority  of  all  physicians  that  a  well  conducted 
course  of  salvarsan  treatment  in  the  hands  of  an 
experienced  person  is  no  more  dangerous  than  treat- 
ment with  any  other  really  active  medicament.  This 
feature  of  safety  must  be  brought  out  here  so  much 
the  more  forcibly  since  I  ask  that  prostitutes  whose 
disease  is  not  yet  or  no  longer  definitely  established, 
should  be  taken  for  treatment.  I  could  assume  the 
brutal  standpoint  that  where  we  are  striving  for 
the  increased  welfare  of  thousands,  it  should  not 
stand  in  our  way  that  an  individual  may  be  harmed. 
However,  I  am  so  convinced  that  the  danger  from 
a  good  courses  of  salvarsan  or  arsenophenylglycin  is 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  277 

i 

so  negligible  that  I  unhesitatingly  recommend  it  for 
the  hygienic  regulations  I  have  in  mind. 

Much  more  difficult,  it  seems  to  me,  is  it  to  decide 
the  medico-legal  question:  ought  a  prostitute,  par- 
ticularly when  the  syphilitic  infection  is  not  yet  estab- 
lished, be  treated  by  force  ?  I  shall  not,  here,  discuss 
this  question ;  indeed  I  am  unable  to  answer  it.  I  am 
however  of  the  firm  conviction  that  in  the  case  of  the 
majority  of  the  individuals  in  question,  compulsion 
will  not  be  necessary  as  soon  as  it  will  be  seen — in 
the  course  of  a  few  months — that  by  means  of  this 
ambulatory  treatment  they  will  be  much  less  re- 
stricted in  their  freedom  and  much  less  frequently 
interned  in  the  hospital,  than  was  heretofore  the 
case.  Here,  in  Breslau,  we  have  already  had  the  op- 
portunity to  make  such  observations.  Through  the 
friendly  persuasion  of  the  station-physicians  many 
public  prostitutes  have  presented  themselves  from 
time  to  time  voluntarily  in  order  to  go  through  a 
mercury  cure.  How  much  brighter  is  the  outlook  for 
such  voluntary  submission  to  treatment  when  the 
latter  consists  of  an  infinitely  more  convenient,  less 
painful  and  less  frequently  administered  salvarsan 
or  arsenophenylglycin  treatment! 

There  is  in  my  opinion  no  financial  burden  con- 
nected with  the  execution  of  my  project  as  far  as  the 
city  or  state  is  concerned.  I  have  not  the  slightest 
doubt  that  as  a  result  of  this  ambulatory  and  pre- 
ventive treatment  so  much  money  will  be  saved  to 
the  community,  the  lodges,  and  the  accident  societies 


278  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

from  the  treatment  of  the  sick  girls  and  the  men  in- 
fected by  them,  that  the  appropriation  which  I  sug- 
gest for  prophylaxis  will  be  very  much  less  than 
that  which  is  now  necessary  to  make  good  the  damage 
already  inflicted. 

An  important  development  of  my  suggestions 
would  be  to  have  each  girl  coming  for  treatment 
given  a  card.  Unlike  the  case  with  previous  similar 
suggestions  this  card  should  not  be  an  evidence  of 
good  health  but  should  merely  indicate  that  the  girl 
is  under  regular  medical  supervision.  Even  if,  as 
may  be  gathered  from  the  above  discussion,  every 
such  person,  despite  the  fact  that  she  is  under  medi- 
cal treatment,  may  not  be  entirely  well,  nevertheless 
the  chance  of  a  man's  finding  a  relatively  non-infec- 
tious woman  in  this  group  are  infinitely  greater  than 
would  be  the  case  if  he  picked  up  a  girl  who  was  not 
under  medical  supervision  and  who  could  not  show  a 
properly  filled  out  card  of  identification. 

The  chief  advantage  of  the  adoption  of  my  sug- 
gestions would  lie  in  the  fact  that  a  much  larger 
circle  of  the  female  population  would  be  subjected  to 
medical  observation  and  treatment.  Furthermore, 
despite  all  the  coercive  measures  which  I  should  like 
to  have  introduced  for  the  carrying  out  of  medical 
treatment  there  will  be  a  much  smaller  number  of 
real  prostitutes  who  will  have  to  be  selected  out  of 
the  total  number  of  women  engaged  in  free  sexual 
intercourse,  for  the  purpose  of  ''registration." 

The  complete  adoption  of  my  suggestions  will  not 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  279 

come  about  quickly.  However  in  any  opinion  the 
"relief  stations'*  could  be  established  soon,  ambula- 
tory treatment  might  also  be  instituted,  and  identi- 
fication cards  might  be  distributed  to  the  registered 
women  at  an  early  date.  A  permit  from  the  minister 
of  the  interior  and  an  understanding  with  the  mu- 
nicipal authorities  of  the  cities  where  the  plan  would 
be  started  would  be  the  only  requisites. 


A  PROBLEM  IN  SEXUAL  ETHICS 
BY  PROF.  CHRISTIAN  v.  EHRENFELS. 

A  MEDICAL  student,  twenty-four  years  old,  physi- 
cally and  psychically  thoroughly  sound  and  robust, 
has  his  last  examinations  before  him.  He  expects 
after  practicing  for  a  few  years  to  earn  an  income 
which  will  permit  him  to  get  married  and  support  a 
family.  Until  now,  by  the  exercise  of  considerable 
self-control,  he  has  refrained  from  all  sexual  rela- 
tions. He  has  observed  that  this  abstinence,  gained 
now  and  then  only  with  difficulty  and  hardship,  has 
on  the  whole  increased  his  vigor  and  psychic  tension 
and  working  power,  but  for  some  time  disquieting 
symptoms  have  been  making  their  appearance.  Sex- 
ually libidinous  fancies  pursue  him  with  a  power  and 
persistence  to  which  the  strongest  exertion  of  will- 
power is  no  longer  equal.  After  semi-sleepless 
nights  he  gets  up  in  the  morning  with  a  tired  languid 
feeling.  He  cannot  get  rid  of  a  dull  heavy  sensation 
of  pressure  in  the  forehead  and  temples.  Only  with 
the  greatest  effort  can  he  force  his  attention  to  his 
studies,  every  unwatched  moment  it  flutters  away  in 
the  one  direction.  The  studies  which  he  still  has  to 
accomplish,  merely  a  fragment  of  what  he  has  al- 
ready learned  practically  without  any  effort,  appear 

281 


282  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

to  him  suddenly  threatening,  overpowering,  uncon- 
querable and  there  arises  in  him  a  hitherto  unknown 
anxiety  that  he  is  not  equal  to  the  task,  that  he  will 
succumb  to  it.  There  is  no  doubt  those  are  the  symp- 
toms of  beginning  nervousness. 

A  medical  colleague  to  whom  the  sufferer  relates 
his  condition  answers  offhand:  "My  friend,  the  mat- 
ter is  very  simple.  Your  nature  categorically  de- 
mands a  woman,  of  which  you  deprived  her  until  now 
and  which  you  must  give  her  now  if  you  do  not  want 
to  become  a  neurasthenic.  You  are  otherwise  not  a 
fool  or  an  imbecile,  you  are  a  splendid  fellow  besides, 
Jn  whom  all  kinds  of  women  would  take  pleasure. 
;  The  woman  is  the  crown  of  all  creation  and  the  high- 
?est  pleasure  in  life.  Do  not  think  any  longer — go 
ahead." 

In  all  this  there  is  really  nothing  new  for  our  stu- 
dent. He  has  told  it  to  himsjelf  a  dozen  times  and 
more,  and  whenever  he  said  it  to  himself  it  nodded  to 
him  and  it  beckoned  to  him  from  all  sides  as  if  in  a 
flower-garden.  But  as  the  watchman  in  the  garden 
there  stand  the  moral  scruples.  * '  To  seduce  an  un- 
suspecting innocent  girl,  to  force  or  flatter  away 
from  her  her  maidenhood,  her  best  possession  and 
guarantee  for  a  future  happy  marriage?  ...  or  to 
have  to  consider  himself  bound  to  her,  to  her,  the 
workingman's  daughter,  with  uncultured  speech  and 
the  lack  of  understanding  for  the  finer  things  of  life 
I  ...  how  rapidly  such  a  little  flower  withers !  She  is 
also  practically  of  my  age,  under  no  circumstances 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  283 

would  it  be  a  happy  marriage  and  an  unhappy  mar- 
riage cannot  be  a  moral  duty." 

1  'But  perhaps  it  would  be  better — the  wife  of  an- 
other? There  is  a  good  opportunity  for  it.  Yes,  he 
has  not  failed  to  notice  it — so  foolish  he  is  not.  It 
would  be  beautiful,  an  unimaginable  pleasure,  such 
a  woman !  But  the  theft  of  somebody  else 's  posses- 
sion? True,  there  are  moralists  who  affirm  that 
marriage  without  love  is  wrong,  not  any  better  than 
prostitution.  And  does  she  love  him,  can  she  love 
him,  when  she  is  so  ready  to  come  over  to  me  ?  But 
nevertheless  a  chain  of  lies,  masking,  deception  and 
meanness  of  the  lowest  kind  would  become  attached 
to  it.  To  have  to  look  into  the  eyes  of  the  deceived 
man  and  the  children — never ! ' ' 

"But  if  not  this,  then  there  remains  the  so-called 
sewer  of  prostitution.  True,  in  honesty  I  must  con- 
fess it,  the  thing  does  not  seem  to  me  so  sewer-like. 
Yes,  I  even  think  it  is  quite  splendid.  I  see  all  colors 
before  my  eyes  at  the  idea  of  spending  an  hour  alone 
with  one  of  those  charming  women,  but — the  danger 
of  infection  .  .  .  should  misfortune  want  it — then  I 
am  ruined  ...  all  my  living  seed,  the  best  inheri- 
tance of  my  father,  for  all  eternity.  True,  there  are 
remedies  to  protect  oneself,  but — how  disgusting!  \ 
When  the  blood  rushes  like  a  torrent  and  the  senses 
are  drunk  with  pleasure,  to  have  to  think  of  that!  j 
And  then  none  of  these  remedies  are  without  excep- 
tion absolutely  sure.  And  even  if  they  were,  the 
moral  dirt  .  .  .  and  the  thought  of  her,  the  prosti- 


284  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

tute,  that  I  can  no  longer  get  rid  of  ...  to  have  re- 
ceived the  first  blissful  thrill  that  can  be  given  by  a 
woman  from  the  absolutely  lost  one  ...  in  the 
bridal  bed  to  have  to  think  of  her,  who  has  by  then 
sunk  down  to  a  procuress  or  at  the  best  has  become 
an  attendant  in  the  public  toilet  rooms — ugh!  So 
this  also  not.*' 

"But  what  then?  I  must  liberate  myself,  I  also 
have  duties  towards  myself.  I  have  no  right  to  make 
myself  sick  from  moral  hyper-sensitiveness,  any 
more  than  others  from  frivolity  and  dissipation. 
True  there  are  physicians  who  affirm  that  sexual  ab- 
stinence can  never  act  injuriously  on  one's  health. 
How  correct  this  is  I  can  judge  now  for  myself :  it  is 
surely  not  so  bad  as  syphilis  or  pulmonary  tuberculo- 
sis, but  still  bad  enough  to  run  down  one  in  time.  In 
some  books  one  reads  that  self-abuse  is  not  at  all  so 
injurious  as  is  generally  believed,  even  harmless  if 
it  is  not  practiced  to  excess.  But  still  the  matter 
must  be  at  least  serious — otherwise  the  way  out  of 
the  difficulty  would  be  too  simple  .  .  .  but  then  .  .  . 
oh,  the  name  alone  ...  a  masturbator !  ...  do  you 
want  to  sink  to  that?  So  that  is  also  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. So  finally,  after  all,  there  is  nothing  left  but 
the  old,  long-practiced  abstinence,  its  tortures,  and  in 
addition  to  have  to  look  on  how  it  slowly  but  surely 
is  making  me  ill." 


PEOF.  EHKENFELS'  PROBLEM  IN  SEXUAL 
ETHICS 

BY  WILLIAM  J.  ROBINSON,  M.D. 

I  HAVE  translated  the  above  from  Prof.  Christian 
von  Ehrenfels'  introduction  to  his  most  excellent, 
thoughtful  and  philosophical  monograph,  Sexual- 
ethik,  which  I  regret  to  say  I  have  come  across  only 
to-day.  Dr.  Ehrenfels,  who  is  Professor  of  Philoso- 
phy at  the  University  of  Prague,  well  presents  the 
moral  scruples  which  assail  every  high-minded  con- 
scientious young  man,  and  the  struggles  which  he  has 
to  go  through.  But  Prof.  Ehrenfels  has  left  out  one 
contingency,  one  possible  issue.  The  problem  is  not 
quite  a  cul-de-sac ;  there  is  a  way  out  of  it.  Whether 
he  left  out  that  solution  of  the  problem  because  then 
the  problem  would  no  longer  be  a  problem,  or  because 
that  solution  of  the  problem  is  impossible  or  at  least 
not  feasible  in  Prague  and  in  smaller  towns,  I  do  not 
know.  But  that  such  a  solution  of  the  problem  does 
exist  in  large  cities,  and  is  utilized  by  an  ever  in- 
creasing number  of  men  cannot  be  subject  to  any 
doubt.  As  I  said  many  times  before,  sexual  prob- 
lems should  either  not  be  discussed  at  all,  or  when 
they  are  discussed  they  should  be  discussed  in  abso* 

285 


286  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

lute  frankness  without  any  reserve  and  without  any 
evasion. 

There  is  one  other  possibility  which  could  have 
presented  itself  to  the  young  student's  mind.  It  is 
doing  no  violence  to  our  imagination  or  to  the  law  of 
probabilities,  to  believe  that  there  is  a  thoroughly 
respectable  young  woman  of  about  the  same  age  or 
older,  or  perhaps  a  widow,  who  is  harassed  by  the 
same  disagreeable  sensations  that  annoy  the  young 
man.  She  may  be  even  suffering  worse  than  he  does. 
She  may  have  become  anemic,  chlorotic,  dyspeptic 
and  acquired  a  dingy  and  pimply  complexion,  or  her 
nights  may  be  sleepless  and  restless,  and  she  may 
have  become  listless,  despondent  and  incapable  of 
any  work.  And  assuming  that  that  young  lady  is  a 
radical  young  lady  and  has  imbibed  the  ideas  of  Prof. 
Ehrenfels  himself,  that  there  is  nothing  sinful  in 
extra-matrimonial  intercourse  per  se,  why  should  not 
that  young  man  and  that  young  woman  come  to- 
gether and  live  in  temporary  union,  this  temporary 
union  being  dissolved  at  the  desire  of  either  party 
or  being  perpetuated  into  a  permanent  union  when 
they  have  acquired  the  longed  for  competence  and 
are  able  to  keep  up  a  home  and  support  a  family? 
Here  there  is  no  moral  degradation  on  either  side, 
no  danger  of  venereal  infection,  no  disgrace,  no 
scandal,  no  possible  tragedy.  The  only  danger  is 
that  of  pregnancy  and  that  can  be  easily  prevented. 

Such  a  union  presents  in  itself  nothing  injurious  to 
either  the  individual  or  the  race,  but  on  the  contrary 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  287 

contribute  materially  to  the  physical  and  spiritual 
welfare  of  two  individuals.  And  if  one  is  permitted 
to  go  as  far  as  Prof.  Ehrenf els  does  in  believing  that 
extra-matrimonial  intercourse  may  be  permitted 
when  it  is  for  the  benefit  of  the  individual,  then  why 
should  not  those  two  individuals  be  permitted  to 
live  together  and  why  should  such  a  union  be  looked 
down  upon  instead  of  being  accepted  as  perfectly 
proper,  rational  and  healthful! 
I  do  not  know.  What  do  you  think  of  the  matter  ! 


EUGENICS,  SEXUAL  SIN,  IGNORANCE  AND 
SUPERSTITION 

BY  W.  C.  GATES,  M.D. 

THE  prevalence  of  prostitution,  venereal  disease, 
abortion,  divorce  and  other  evils  proves  that  modern 
civilization  has  not  solved  the  problem  of  the  proper 
relation  of  the  sexes. 

Birth  control  clinics  and  sporadic,  so-called  ''Eu- 
genic Marriages"  show  that  some  of  our  people  are 
learning  the  letter  "A"  in  the  alphabet  of  sexology. 

Before  expressing  certain  ideas  which  have  oc- 
curred to  me,  it  may  be  wise  to  re-state  certain  self- 
evident  truths : 

First,  the  primary  fundamental  passion  actuating 
everything  that  has  life,  is  the  sustenance  of  life. 

Second,  and  practically  equalling  it  in  intensity,  is 
the  reproduction  of  life. 

Stated  in  different  terms,  the  life  of  the  individual 
depends  upon  a  digestive  system ;  the  life  of  the  race 
or  species  depends  upon  a  sexual  system. 

Nature  has  wisely  decreed  that  the  act  of  taking 
nourishment  and  the  act  of  reproduction  shall  bring 
pleasure  to  the  individual. 

From  a  strictly  biologic  standpoint,  as  soon  as  the 
male  has  impregnated  the  female,  his  responsibility 
to  nature  ceases  and  he  is  at  liberty  to  seek  out  and 

289 


290  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

impregnate  other  females.  Where  his  responsibility 
ceases,  that  of  the  female  begins,  for  it  is  her  duty 
to  bear,  protect  and  rear  the  young. 

Up  to  this  point  sexual  attraction  has  been  the  only 
force  operative  between  the  two  sexes,  but  from  this 
point  on,  sexual  antagonisms  arise.  The  responsi- 
bility of  each  sex  to  nature  is  so  radically  different 
that  it  cannot  but  result  in  sharp  conflicts.  A  care- 
ful study  of  anthropology  or  the  reading  of  Heape  's 
"Sex  Antagonisms"  will  convince  any  careful  stu- 
dent. 

Man's  natural  tendency  is  to  look  for  others  whom 
he  may  impregnate. 

The  woman  has  found  that  if  she  can  bind  the  male 
to  her  and  her  interests,  she  and  her  offspring  stand 
a  much  better  chance  of  survival.  To  the  woman's 
constant  effort  to  improve  her  condition  is  largely 
due  all  the  progress  our  race  has  ever  known.  ? 

The  type  of  man  who  has  most  readily  yielded  to 
her  influence  has  been  rewarded  by  the  increased 
survival  of  his  offspring.  This  is  one  of  nature's 
eugenic  methods.  There  is  no  question  that  the 
monogamous  marriage  is  the  ideal,  but  in  spite  of  all 
our  pretensions,  no  race  of  people  the  world  has  ever 
seen  practices  it.  Different  races  of  people  have 
established  different  sexual  customs,  following  the 
lines  of  least  resistance  and  merely  drifted  into  the 
methods  now  practiced. 

No  careful  scientific  study,  backed  up  by  experi- 
ments on  any  appreciable  scale,  has  yet  been  made. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  291 

To  support  his  physical  life,  man  has  tried  to  eat 
almost  every  substance  in  the  known  world,  and  in 
his  sexual  life,  his  efforts  have  been  almost  as  varied. 

The  experience  of  the  savage  individual  is  very 
limited  and  his  natural  tendency  is  to  abuse  or  ridi- 
cule those  whose  customs  are  strange  to  him. 

I  know  several  people  who  fairly  rave  at  the 
idea  of  eating  oysters,  calling  them  vile  and  filthy ;  I 
know  others  who  enjoy  eating  oysters  above  any- 
thing else,  but  rave  at  those  who  eat  snails,  while 
nearly  all  whom  I  have  ever  met  expressed  disgust  at 
the  idea  of  eating  grasshdppers,  although  it  has  been 
a  common  food  of  many  tribes  of  people  around  the 
Mediterranean  for  centuries  past,  so  much  so  that 
the  Bible  speaks  of  them  as  the  diet  of  John  the 
Baptist. 

For  many  ages  we  have  concentrated  all  our  ef- 
forts to  train  the  race  as  to  the  different  foods  and 
food  supplies.  Nothing  pertaining  to  food  and  its 
preparation  has  ever  been  concealed  or  kept  secret. 
This  being  the  case  and  such  violent  prejudices  exist- 
ing among  our  people  over  simple  articles  of  diet, 
how  much  more  violent,  unjust  and  unreasonable  are 
those  prejudices  when  aroused  over  a  strange  sex 
relationship  among  a  race  so  densely  ignorant  of  the 
subject  as  our  own. 

It  would  be  so  absolutely  impossible  to  compel  all 
races  or  all  people  of  one  race  to  adopt  a  single  uni- 
form standard  of  living,  that  the  idea  is  ridiculous. 
It  is  just  as  much  an  impossibility  to  get  people  to 


292  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

conform  to  a  single  sexual  standard  under  our  pres- 
ent civilization. 

Here  is  the  next  great  problem  that  our  civilization 
must  master :  the  race  has  drifted  along,  bound  down 
by  traditions,  ignorance  and  superstition  until  condi- 
tions are  becoming  intolerable  and  it  is  time  for  care- 
ful scientific  study. 

Forel  bitterly  attacks  the  church  and  its  influence. 
There  is  no  question  but  what  the  influence  of  the 
church  has  seriously  retarded  the  solving  of  this 
problem,  just  as  it  has  retarded  civilization  in  other 
times  and  on  greater  questions.  For  instance,  when 
scientists  first  began  to  teach  that  the  world  was 
round,  the  church  taught  that  it  was  flat  and  burned 
those  who  differed  with  it  at  the  stake.  But  the 
church  has  changed;  not  only  on  that,  but  on  other 
great  questions.  It  is  probably  the  greatest  social 
machine  in  the  world  today  and  could  be  the  greatest 
instrument  of  good  in  solving  this  sexual  problem  if 
it  would  study  it  from  a  scientific  standpoint. 

Bloch,  in  "The  Sexual  Life  of  Our  Time,"  con- 
demns the  institution  of  marriage.  Just  the  men- 
tion of  this  fact  makes  the  average  man  rave  just  as 
hard  as  though  he  had  been  offered  grasshoppers  for 
dinner;  but  Bloch 's  arguments  are  worthy  of  very 
careful  consideration. 

Statistics  prove  that  less  than  fifty  per  cent  of 
marriages  are  satisfactory  and  a  still  smaller  num- 
ber lead  to  happiness  of  both  parties. 

Our  papers  are  full  of  divorce  suits;  prostitutes 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  293 

are  on  every  corner  and  venereal  diseases  are  very 
common. 

Every  year  sees  an  increased  number  of  physicians 
claiming  that  practically  all  diseases  of  a  nervous 
nature  are  due  to  sexual  starvation  or  aberration ;  f 
our  insane  asylums  are  filled  with  patients  who  are 
suffering  from  a  psychic  trauma  of  a  sexual  nature. 
All  this  suffering  is  of  such  a  coarse  nature  that  it  is 
recognized  by  every  eye,  but  there  are  hundreds  of 
cases  of  most  exquisite  torture|which  are  not  seen  or 
recognized  by  the  public. 

One  of  my  patients,  a  maiden  lady  of  forty-five,  a 
nervous  and  physical  wreck,  tells  me  that  she  has  had 
ardent  sexual  longing  since  the  age  of  eight  years. 
The  one  desire  of  her  life  has  been  children  and 
repeatedly  I  have  seen  her  weep  in  a  perfect  aban- 
donment of  grief  because  she  had  no  children.  While 
the  desire  for  children  has  been  the  greatest,  the 
desire  for  actual  sex  relations  has  been  very  strong. 
Of  a  deeply  religious  nature,  brought  up  in  a  strict 
church  association,  taught  to  regard  all  these  desires 
as  sinful,  as  a  girl  she  shunned  the  companionship 
of  young  people  because  her  desires  were  so  great 
that  she  was  afraid  she  might  be  tempted  and  yield. 
She  has  never  found  a  mate.  She  has  exerted  all  her 
energy  in  fighting  a  perfectly  natural  desire.  Her 
nervous  trouble  both  she  and  I  believe  to  be  entirely 
due  to  this  cause.  She  is  now  unable  to  earn  her  own 
living  and  will  soon  become  a  public  charge.  Her 
pastor  tells  her  that  she  has  obeyed  the  divine  com- 


294  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

maud  and  lived  a  life  of  righteousness.  I  cannot  see 
it  that  way.  She  has  disobeyed  a  law  of  nature  and 
nature  has  inflicted  the  penalty.  She  has  broken 
God's  law  and  kept  only  weak,  egotistical  man's 
translation  and  misinterpretation  thereof. 

All  admit  that  the  libertine  and  prostitute  are 
sinners;  they  break  the  laws  of  God  and  man  by 
going  to  excess  and  are  justly  punished.  The  man 
who  overeats  breaks  the  laws  of  God,  but  not  of 
man.  He  also  is  punished  with  gout,  B  right's  dis- 
ease, etc.  Those  who  go  to  the  other  extreme  are 
just  as  much  sinners.  The  individual  who  denies 
himself  sufficient  nourishment,  suffers  from  weak- 
ness, degenerations  and  bodily  ailments.  He  has 
disobeyed  a  law  of  God  and  suffers  the  penalty. 

So,  in  my  opinion,  this  lady,  by  denying  her  sexual 
nature,  is  just  as  much  a  sinner  as  the  prostitute 
and  has  suffered  just  as  severe  a  penalty.  She  has 
broken  God's  law  instead  of  obeying  it. 

This  is  but  one  of  hundreds  of  cases  which  may 
be  seen  in  any  psychopathic  clinic  to-day. 

There  is  something  wrong  with  a  society  which 
produces  so  many  unfortunate  results. 

Some  years  ago  a  young  lady  of  twenty-two,  from 
our  better  classes,  came  into  my  office.  She  told  me 
that  she  had  no  reason  to  believe  but  what  she  was 
a  normal,  healthy  woman  in  every  respect  and  with 
healthy  desires  and  impulses.  She  stated  that  at 
times  her  sexual  desire  was  keen,  that  she  enjoyed 
going  out  with  young  people ;  that  in  their  gathering 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  295 

certain  young  men  were  very  attractive  to  her,  that 
she  was  becoming  afraid  to  be  out  in  their  company 
for  fear  that  desire  and  opportunity  might  come 
together  and  cause  her  to  yield,  and  that  they  were 
not  a  class  of  men  with  whom  she  would  care  to  have 
a  relationship. 

She  stated  very  frankly  that  she  wanted  to  make 
the  most  out  of  her  life;  that  she  had  no  suitable 
chance  for  a  mate  at  that  time ;  that  it  took  so  much 
of  her  energy  to  fight  her  inclinations  that  it  was 
hardly  worth  the  struggle ;  she  had  recently  become 
acquainted  with  a  man  whom  she  respected ;  whom 
she  thought  would  honor  and  protect  her  in  every 
way;  she  wanted  to  be  positive  that  he  had  no 
venereal  diseases  and  she  wanted  information  on 
birth  control,  stating  that  she  much  preferred  to 
establish  a  relationship  with  a  man  of  that  character 
than  to  take  chances  of  yielding  in  a  gust  of  passion 
to  a  man  whom  she  could  not  respect. 

I  admire  and  respect  this  girl  because  she  faced 
her  problem  squarely,  thought  it  out  carefully  and 
decided  for  herself  what  she  would  do  with  her  life. 
She  is  holding  a  high  salaried  position  and  doing 
most  excellent  work. 

Besides  these  two  cases,  I  see  many  girls  who 
follow  the  line  of  least  resistance.  Some  die ;  some 
have  abortions  produced  and  others  live  with  ille- 
gitimate offspring. 

There  is  no  use  in  condemning  and  fighting  the 
ignorance  and  superstition  in  the  church,  assailing 


296  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

marriage  or  raving  against  the  views  of  this,  that 
and  the  other  individual. 

Fighting  over  mere  opinions  will  not  get  us  any- 
thing but  heartaches.  The  one  thing  to  do  is  to  know 
the  truth.  I  would  like  to  see  a  chair  of  sexology 
established  in  every  university  in  this  great  land  of 
ours ;  I  would  like  to  make  it  a  criminal  offense  for 
any  man  to  stand  in  the  pulpit  or  attempt  to  teach  or 
instruct  others  on  sexual  questions  until  he  had  at 
least  read  the  works  of  men  who  have  devoted  their 
lives  to  the  scientific  study  of  these  subjects.  I 
would  like  to  make  it  a  capital  offense  for  any  judge 
or  lawyer  to  try  a  case,  in  which  there  was  a  sexual 
element,  without  first  having  studied  these  works. 

Every  little  while  our  newspapers  expose  some 
colony  of  sexual  perverts;  a  group  of  people  who, 
under  the  cloak  of  some  kind  of  religion,  live  together 
and  practice  all  sorts  of  sexual  orgies;  the  Hanish 
Cult  in  Chicago  is  an  example. 

"When  these  things  are  exposed  by  the  papers,  most 
of  our  people  take  them  as  a  joke,  but  if  one  should 
establish  a  colony  for  the  scientific  study  of  sexual 
relations  and  eugenics,  I  suppose  the  majority  of 
them  would  be  out  with  a  club ;  still,  I  believe  it  would 
be  well  worth  trying. 

Suppose  some  of  our  extremists  should  start  such 
a  colony?  Volunteers  are  easy  to  obtain  for  almost 
any  kind  of  a  proposition ;  the  sure-death  parties  in 
the  Russo-Japanese  War  never  lacked  volunteers. 
For  a  project  of  this  kind,  out  of  the  volunteers  offer- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  297 

ing,  one  could  call  those  most  fitted,  those  free  from 
all  diseases,  especially  of  a  venereal  nature,  and  get 
a  good  stock  with  which  to  begin. 

Suppose  one  of  the  most  radical  of  our  sexologists 
should  try  a  colony  on  this  plan ;  all  property  to  be 
owned  by  the  state;  every  individual  taught  birth 
control  from  childhood  up ;  the  sex  relationship  to  be 
free  and  as  much  attention  paid  to  pleasure  in  that 
as  our  race  now  pays  to  the  pleasure  in  eating. 

When  a  woman  desired  a  child,  she  should  register 
that  fact  before  an  officer  of  the  association  and 
either  choose  who  should  be  the  father  of  the  child 
or  ask  advice  of  judges  appointed  for  that  purpose. 
After  such  registration,  she  should  associate  with 
no  other  man  and  there  would  be  no  question  as  to 
the  paternity.  As  soon  as  pregnancy  was  estab- 
lished, the  state  should  give  her  title  to  a  home ;  after 
the  birth  of  each  child,  she  should  receive  a  small 
pension  from  the  state,  as  well  as  a  percentage  of  the 
earnings  of  the  father.  The  franchise  should  rest 
with  women  who  had  borne  children  and  men  who 
had  attained  to  a  certain  degree  of  production  or  ac- 
complished some  great  good  for  the  colony. 

It  is  claimed  that  our  present  ideas  of  virtue  and 
sexual  morality  have  arisen  only  where  man  has 
accumulated  an  amount  of  individual  property  which 
he  wished  to  transmit  to  his  children  and  that  they 
do  not  exist  among  tribes  where  the  property  is 
owned  exclusively  by  the  females. 

It  is  also  claimed  that  a  plan  of  this  kind  would 


298  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

do  away  with  the  evils  now  existing.  Whether  other 
evils  would  arise  to  take  their  place,  it  is  hard  to  say. 
Sexual  excess  would  probably  not  be  as  common  as 
at  present  and  it  would  be  just  as  promptly  pun- 
ished by  the  infallible  laws  of  nature.  It  is  also 
claimed  that  children  would  develop  much  better 
than  at  present  if  permitted  to  imitate  their  elders 
and  the  physicians  would  not  see  the  many  cases  of 
faulty  development,  infanltile  uterus,  inability  to 
lactate  and  sexual  frigidity  which  exist  in  our  pres- 
ent society. 

Although  this  is  an  extreme  suggestion,  the  estab- 
lishment of  such  a  colony  would  be  an  interesting 
experiment  and  nowhere  near  as  revolting  to  our 
present  standards  and  ideas  of  sex  morality  as  those 
of  the  Hanish  Colony  and  those  of  numerous  other 
colonies  of  religio-sexual  perverts  which  exist  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  our  country. 

If  some  of  our  great  philanthropists  would  estab- 
lish a  well  endowed  foundation  for  the  study  of  hu- 
man sexuality  and  scientific  eugenics,  I  believe  our 
race  and  civilization  would  greatly  profit  thereby. 

Cattle  breeders,  extending  their  experiments  over 
many  generations,  develop  a  breed  of  cattle,  whose 
milk  is  exceedingly  rich  in  butter  fat;  other  breeds 
whose  milk  contains  very  little  butter  fats,  but  is 
very  rich  in  caseine ;  still  others  that  give  very  little 
milk,  but  run  entirely  to  beef.  They  do  not  get  these 
results  from  single  and  scattered  matings.  It  would 
be  an  easy  matter,  breeding  through  a  sufficient  num- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  299 

her  of  generations,  to  establish  a  race  of  people  nine 
feet  high  and  of  corresponding  proportions,  or  a 
race  of  people  less  than  four  feet  in  height.  I  think 
it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  produce  a  race  of  peo- 
ple all  sentiment  and  emotion,  or  a  race  of  people  in 
whom  there  was  little  or  no  sentiment  and  governed 
by  pure  reason. 

The  question  for  the  foundation  for  scientific 
eugenics  to  determine  would  be  the  selection  and 
breeding  of  a  race  of  people  which  would  be  best 
adapted  for  existence  on  this  earth;  a  happier  race 
than  the  present  one,  free  from  prostitution,  venereal 
diseases,  divorce,  etc. ;  a  race  in  which  the  pleasure 
to  be  obtained  in  the  sexual  relation  will  receive  as 
much  care,  thought  and  study  as  our  race  now  ex- 
pends on  the  pleasures  of  eating.  The  pleasure  at- 
tending the  one  function  is  no  more  sinful  than  that 
attending  the  other.  Our  present  treatment  of  this 
particular  phase  of  the  subject  is  both  inconsistent 
and  ridiculous. 

The  present  attempts  at  eugenic  matings  are  as 
amusing  and  interesting  as  a  child's  attempts  at 
learning  its  first  letters  although  just  as  necessary. 

I  hope  that  our  race  will  learn  this  alphabet  as  rap- 
idly as  the  child  learns  the  other. 


IS  PLATONIC  LOVE  A  NORMAL  RELATION? 
BY  E.  R.  NASH,  M.D. 

PLATO  depicted  a  kind  of  social  relation  between 
men  and  women  in  which  there  was  passionate  affec- 
tion and  attachment  without  sensual  feeling.  This 
conception  of  Platonic  love  does  not  admit  of  the 
existence  of  sexual  desires  between  the  lovers.  If 
such  desires  exist,  whether  expressed  or  not,  they 
destroy  the  character  of  the  sentiment  which  Plato 
describes  as  the  only  true  love.  In  view  of  Plato's 
celibacy  and  his  advocacy  of  a  community  of  wives 
and  goods  in  place  of  domestic  life  and  private  prop- 
erty, we  may  assume  that  the  sentiment  he  described 
as  love,  represented  his  own  sentiment  toward  the 
opposite  sex. 

There  is  one  fundamental  difficulty  in  discussing 
matters  in  which  love  plays  a  part;  the  impossibility 
of  harmonizing  the  many  conceptions  of  the  complex 
emotions  included  under  the  generic  term,  love.  To 
the  discriminating  mind  and  to  the  one  who  studies 
the  nuances  in  expressions  and  what  they  mean,  the 
word  itself  covers  many  different  sentiments.  There 
are  vastly  different  sentiments  involved  in  the  love 
of  God,  the  love  of  a  sweetheart,  the  love  of  a  friend, 
the  love  of  a  parent  or  child,  the  love  of  children 

301 


302  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

in  general,  the  love  of  a  horse,  the  love  of  war,  the 
love  of  life,  the  love  of  nature,  of  a  bungalow  in  the 
woods,  of  green  apples,  of  abstract  qualities,  etc. 
As  we  have  no  words  or  expressions  which  will  inter- 
pret each  of  these  sentiments,  in  using  the  generic 
term  we  may  make  it  apply  to  any  one  of  the  senti- 
ments included  in  the  term.  In  only  one  of  these 
forms  or  kinds  of  love  is  there  any  association  in 
thought  of  sensual  feeling;  namely,  the  love  of  a 
sweetheart.  When  such  thought  association  arises 
in  regard  to  a  friend  of  the  opposite  sex,  that  friend 
becomes  for  the  moment,  in  the  mind  of  the  lover,  a 
sweetheart.  The  friend  may  not  recognize  or  accept 
such  relation,  it  exists  nevertheless  in  the  lover's 
mind,  while  the  thought  association  lasts.  Once  ac- 
cepted by  the  friend,  the  new  relation  takes  the  place 
of  the  other,  tho  there  never  be  the  consummation 
of  the  desire  or  a  reciprocal  thought  association. 

In  love  there  is  a  longing  for  the  individual,  thing 
or  quality,  which  may  be  absent  in  mere  liking,  and 
which  is  the  essential  feature  of  the  emotion.  In  the 
love  of  a  sweetheart  there  is  a  longing,  not  only  for 
the  companionship,  but  also  for  the  closest  mental, 
physical  and  spiritual  association  with  the  other. 
The  closest  physical  association  is  in  the  sexual  em- 
brace. In  Platonic  love  there  is  a  complete  absence 
of  desire  for  the  physical  association  and  therefore 
there  cannot  be  in  this  love  the  same  sentiment  that 
exists  between  lovers  and  sweethearts.  In  this  kind 
of  love  the  sentiment  is  such  as  exists  between 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  303 

friends  of  the  same  sex,  the  strength  and  depth  of 
the  sentiment  depending  upon  the  temperament  and 
the  closeness  of  association  between  the  two.  In 
two  normal,  healthy,  virile  individuals  of  opposite 
sex,  a  close  mental  and  spiritual  association  may 
exist  for  a  time  in  the  true  Platonic  sense,  but  if  they 
are  normal,  healthy  and  virile  and  there  is  no  mental 
or  physical  obstacle  to  sexual  relations,  their  close 
association  will  spur  the  desire  for  physical  associa- 
tion which  they  have  subconsciously  suppressed, 
until  it  is  beyond  their  control.  The  sex  urge  is  a 
natural,  instinctive  phenomenon  which  cannot  be 
suppressed  at  will,  the  physical  demand  and  its  men- 
tal interpretation  in  desire  come  unbidden,  and  while 
lovers  may  suppress  the  expression  of  such  desire 
they  cannot  suppress  the  desire  itself.  We  are 
speaking  here  of  normal,  healthy,  virile  individuals, 
not  of  frigid  women  and  impotent  men  who  lack 
both  potentia  and  libido,  or  of  those  abnormal  indi- 
viduals whose  sexual  energies  have  been  diverted 
into  abnormal  channels,  or  of  those  equally  abnormal 
persons  who  have  schooled  themselves  into  a  fear  or 
disgust  of  the  sexual  act.  Such  abnormal  persons 
can  maintain  social  relations  such  as  are  depicted  by 
Plato,  indefinitely,  and  to  such,  Platonic  love  can 
exist  as  a  normal  social  relation.  But  Platonic  love 
does  not  contemplate  or  presuppose  such  relations 
between  abnormal  persons.  It  can  exist  between 
perfectly  normal  individuals  for  a  time  as  has  been 
explained,  and  more  or  less  permanently  under  ex- 


304  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

ceptional  circumstances.  In  the  vast  majority  of 
cases  where  such  relations  are  said  to  exist  it  is  not  a 
pure  Platonic  love,  devoid  of  sexual  feeling,  but  a 
love  in  which  the  expression  of  desire  is  suppressed, 
or  where  obstacles  to  its  consummation  exist. 

A  few  examples  showing  exceptional  circum- 
stances under  which  Platonic  love  between  normal 
persons  has  been  maintained,  will  be  given.  (1)  A 
man  of  30,  whose  wife  has  been  in  the  lunatic  asylum 
for  the  past  five  years,  has  as  his  housekeeper  the 
younger  sister  of  his  wife.  The  man  and  his  sister- 
in-law  have  become  close  associates  and  lovers,  but 
he  declares  he  has  never  had  any  desire  for  physical 
association  with  her,  tho  he  does  not  deny  that  he 
has  had  such  association  with  other  women. 

(2)  A  couple  have  been  living  together  for  several 
years  as  brother  and  sister.     Tho  living  in'  closest 
intimacy  together,  his  sexual  desires  are  gratified 
by  another  woman  for  whom  he  has  only  a  physical 
affection,  which  is  reciprocated  in  kind  by  her.    This 
woman  is  married,  adores  her  husband,  but  for  her 
sexual  gratification  she  prefers  her  paramour. 

(3)  A  music  teacher,  finding  his  wife  unfaithful, 
left  her  and  became  a  misogynist.    He  found  delight 
in  the  progress  made  by  an  exceptionally  bright  pupil 
and  with  the  sole  thought  that  he  would  develop  her 
into  a  great  musician  he  adopted  her  as  his  ward. 
In  their  constant  association  he  gradually  lost  his 
hatred  for  women,  developed  an  intense  desire  for 
her  companionship  and  a  passionate  love,  devoid, 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  305 

however,  of  sensual  feeling.  She  has  reciprocated 
that  love  in  kind,  and  altho  she  calls  him  daddy,  their 
relations  are  those  of  lovers.  I  cannot  give  the  ages 
of  these  two,  as  it  might  reveal  their  identity.  Both 
are  well  known  in  musical  circles. 

(4)  A  machinist  lost  his  leg  through  the  careless- 
ness of  a  young  woman,  a  fellow  employee.    After  he 
recovered  she  married  him,  but  on  the  wedding  night 
developed  an  uncontrollable  repugnance  to  sexual 
congress  with  a  maimed  person.    He  has  never  in- 
sisted upon  sexual  relations  and  they  live  as  happily 
as  two  lovers  can  li ve,  without  such  relations. 

(5)  In  a  somewhat  similar  case  the  man  has  a 
physical  defect  which  makes  him  an  unacceptable 
mate.    In  this  case  husband  and  wife  relations  are 
maintained  without  the  formality  of  a  legal  cere- 
mony.    The  woman  is  masculine  in  type  and  man- 
ners and  the  two  are  like  intimate  chums  of  the  same 
sex. 

The  first  case  presents  the  nearest  approach  to 
true  Platonic  love.  Here  the  natural  affection  exist- 
ing between  relatives  who  are  interested  in  the  wel- 
fare of  each  other,  has  been  strengthened  through 
close  association,  a  gradual  sense  of  dependence  upon 
each  other,  and  finally  a  longing  for  each  other's 
company.  In  the  woman  there  is  probably  an  inhi- 
bition of  sexual  desire  for  the  man,  caused  by  a  moral 
regard  for  her  sister's  marital  rights.  He  declares 
that  he  considers  himself  released  from  his  conjugal 
obligations,  but  he  is  not  attracted  to  his  sister-in- 


306  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

law  physically,  has  never  kissed  her  or  held  her  in  his 
arms,  yet  he  feels  keenly  her  absence,  and  is  un- 
happy when  she  is  not  around  him.  In  the  second 
case  the  woman  is  probably  frigid  and  unemotional, 
as  she  does  not  object  to  her  lover's  sexual  associa- 
tion with  the  other  woman.  She  does  not  understand 
the  sex  urge,  but  believes  that  there  exists  on  the 
part  of  the  man  a  sex-need  which  must  be  relieved, 
and  the  gratification  of  the  sexual  desire  can  be  ac- 
complished without  the  sacrifice  of  his  love  for  her. 
He  says  he  has  no  regard  for  the  other  woman,  visits 
her  only  under  sexual  stress,  and  when  this  is  past  he 
rarely  thinks  of  her.  In  this  case  the  underlying 
causes  for  the  inhibition  of  sexual  desires  are  prob- 
ably her  frigidity  and  his  knowledge  of  this  condi- 
tion. In  the  third  case,  misogyny  and  the  complete 
suppression  of  sexual  desires  following  his  experi- 
ence with  his  unfaithful  wife,  will  account  for  the 
absence  of  such  desires  on  his  part.  His  mate  is 
abnormal  in  her  sexual  life.  Her  desires  were  for- 
merly aroused  and  automatically  gratified  when 
reading  erotic  books.  Now  the  same  result  is  pro- 
duced when  playing  or  hearing  certain  musical  com- 
positions. At  such  times  she  experiences  the  turges- 
cence,  orgasm  and  reaction  of  normal  intercourse, 
and  this  can  be  repeated  several  times  if  th^e  same  or 
similar  compositions  are  played.  She  likes  to  be 
kissed  and  embraced  but  she  cannot  conceive  of  grat- 
ification of  sexual  desire  through  physical  contact. 
She  says  she  does  have  such  desires,  but  these  are  re- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  307 

lieved  by  playing  the  compositions  which,  she  knows 
from  experience,  will  cause  gratification.  In  the  re- 
action there  is  a  sense  of  satisfaction  and  a  feeling  of 
lassitude.  Some  compositions  quieten  her  desire, 
but  she  will  not  play  these  when  in  an  erotic  mood 
unless  she  is  tired  or  wants  to  avoid  the  fatigue  fol- 
lowing gratification.  This  case  illustrates  the  diver- 
sion of  sexual  energies  into  abnormal  channels. 
There  are  many  such  cases  among  so-called  intel- 
lectuals. Some  experience  an  orgasm  when  alone, 
engaged  in  certain  mental  work ;  others  only  when  in 
the  presence  of  the  opposite  sex.  Occasionally  the 
individual  is  so  engrossed  in  the  work  that  the  or- 
gasm passes  unnoticed  until  the  satisfaction  and  las- 
situde of  the  reaction  is  experienced  or  emission  has 
occurred.  Such  barely  conscious  or  unconscious  or- 
gasms may  also  occur  when  the  mind  is  not  wholly 
engrossed  in  work,  even  when  at  rest.  They  are 
then  similar  to  nocturnal  emissions. 
"The  desire  for  the  close  association  with  a  single 
individual  having  similar  tastes,  is  much  stronger 
among  highly  intellectual  persons  than  among  oth- 
ers. When  such  association  occurs  between  persons 
of  opposite  sex  intimate  companionships  are  formed 
upon  the  basis  of  like  tastes,  ideals  and  purposes,  and 
these  may  result  in  an  intense  attachment  without 
sexual  desires  directed  to  each  other.  Such  desires 
may  exist  in  these  cases  as  in  any  other,  but  their 
gratification  does  not  require  the  association  with 
any  particular  person,  and  it  may  be  accomplished 


308  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

unconsciously,  or  subconsciously,  through  the  merest 
touch,  as  of  the  fingers,  ordinary  conversation,  or  the 
presence  alone  of  the  associate,  or  of  some  other  per- 
son. In  these  cases  there  is  no  thought  of  sexual 
congress,  no  desire  for  bodily  contact,  no  sex  need 
for  any  particular  person.  It  is  in  such  cases  that 
true  Platonic  love  is  possible,  and  when  it  does  occur 
it  becomes  a  normal  social  relation.  These  persons 
are,  however,  abnormal  in  their  sex  life.  Normal  sex 
life  demands  normal  sexual  relations,  tho  love  is  not 
a  necessary  concomitant  of  such  relations.  Normal 
/  love  between  persons  of  opposite  sex,  not  merely  af- 
fection or  friendship,  but  love,  such  as  exists  between 
lover  and  sweetheart,  includes  the  physical  as  well 
as  the  mental  and  spiritual  longing  for  each  other. 
It  is  possible  to  conceive  of  an  attachment  between 
friends  of  opposite  sex,  so  strong  that  there  exists  a 
longing  for  each  other  as  urgent  as  for  food  or  drink. 
And  if  they  possess  normal  sexuality,  the  physical 
longing  for  each  other  will  sooner  or  later  arise,  in 
spite  of  their  efforts  or  subconscious  determination 
to  suppress  it. 

This  has  been  the  experience  of  many  so-called  in- 
tellectuals in  whom  the  sex  urge  has  been  diverted 
or  perverted.  Some  of  these  persons  never  experi- 
enced a  longing  for  physical  contact  with  a  particular 
person  of  the  opposite  sex,  not  even  a  desire  for  nor- 
mal sexual  congress,  until  some  incident  occurred 
which  instantly  changed  their  sexual  life.  A  woman 
writer  who  had  maintained  intimate  Platonic  rela- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  309 

tions  with  a  journalist  for  years,  in  a  moment  of  erot- 
ic ecstasy,  threw  her  arms  around  him  in  a  passion- 
ate embrace.  She  said  she  was  unconscious  of  her 
act  and  might  have  done  the  same  with  any  one  who 
would  have  been  at  her  side  at  the  moment,  or  even 
with  any  inanimate  object.  The  man  returned  the 
embrace  and  developed  a  sudden  longing  for  her 
physical  association.  The  man  had  become  accus- 
tomed to  barely  conscious  orgasms  without  emission 
by  day  and  nocturnal  emissions  without  lascivious 
dreams  at  night  and  had  not  experienced  a  normal 
libido  in  many  years.  Her  act  aroused  the  libido  and 
a  longing  for  physical  association  with  her.  She  de- 
clares that  she  had  not  the  slightest  sexual  desire  but 
submitted  to  him  as  she  felt  that  she  was  responsible 
for  his  new  longing.  After  this  experience  their  pla- 
tonic  relations  ceased  and  they  maintain  marital  re- 
lations altho  both  say  they  rarely  indulge  in  sex- 
ual congress  as  the  orgasms  occur  in  the  course  of 
their  work  as  often  as  before.  The  libido  is  aroused 
by  physical  contact  as  a  kiss,  embrace  or  handshake, 
but  it  does  not  occur  without  contact. 

Most  of  the  cases  of  Platonic  love  between  healthy, 
virile  individuals  are  really  pseudo-Platonic,  the 
physical  longing  being  deliberately  suppressed,  or 
by  tacit  understanding,  every  expression  of  that 
longing,  in  word  and  action,  being  avoided.  The 
term  is  also  misapplied  to  cases  in  which  every  ele- 
ment of  love,  such  as  exists  between  lover  and  sweet- 
heart, is  present,  but  the  gratification  of  desire  is 


310  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

thwarted  by  circumstances.  In  true  Platonic  love  the 
element  of  sexual  desire  is  compatible  with  friend- 
ship but  not  with  love.  The  distinction  between  the 
two  relations,  friendship  and  love,  is  clear.  In 
friendship  there  is  absent  the  yearning  and  longing 
for  the  object  of  his  affections.  In  love  the  mere 
presence  of  the  loved  one  produces  a  sense  of  con- 
tentment and  happiness  far  different  from  the  asso- 
ciation derived  from  the  association  of  a  friend. 
Friendship  may  indeed  be  so  strong  that  the  friend 
will  make  every  sacrifice  that  the  lover  would  make, 
but  the  spiritual  yearning  is  not  there.  Such  friend- 
ships between  persons  of  opposite  sexes — called 
Platonic  friendships — are  not  rare.  It  frequently 
happens  that  there  is  Platonic  friendship  on  the  one 
side  and  true  love  or  pseudo-Platonic  love  on  the 
other.  This  relation  passes  for  Platonic  love,  altho 
there  is  absent  the  essential  element  of  love  on  the 
one  side,  and  there  is  present  the  physical  longing 
which  deprives  it  of  the  character  of  Platonic  love, 
on  the  other.  Moreover,  in  Platonic  love  there  must 
be  a  mutual  attachment,  a  condition  which  need  not 
prevail  in  the  ordinary  conception  of  love. 

If  we  restrict  the  term  Platonic  love  to  cases  in 
which  there  is  complete  absence  of  sexual  desire, 
then  such  relations  can  exist  normally  only  in  ab- 
normal persons;  a  frigid  woman  and  an  impotent 
man  in  whom  both  potentia  and  libido  are  lacking.  If 
we  include  cases  in  which  the  desire  exists  but  its 
gratification  is  diverted  or  perverted,  the  individuals 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  311 

in  these  cases  are  likewise  abnormal.  Platonic  love 
may  exist  as  a  normal  relation  between  normal  per- 
sons under  exceptional  circumstances,  as  when  in- 
hibiting influence  prevents  the  normal  gratification 
of  sexual  desires  with  each  other,  when  the  desires 
are  directed  toward  some  other  person  more  accept- 
able sexually,  or  when  there  are  strong  intellectual 
and  spiritual  attachments  but  weak  sexual  desires. 
In  most  cases  Platonic  love,  if  it  existed  at  all,  soon 
loses  its  Platonic  character  for  the  sex  need  will  rise 
at  times  in  every  healthy,  normal,  virile  individual, 
and  it  will  be  naturally  directed  toward  the  person 
for  whom  there  exists  an  intellectual  and  spiritual 
attachment,  provided,  of  course,  that  person  is  ac- 
ceptable sexually.  The  conclusion  that  can  be  drawn 
from  this  paper  is,  that  Platonic  love  can  be  a  normal 
social  relation  among  abnormal  persons  or  under  ab- 
normal circumstances ;.  it  can  not  be  a  normal  social 
relation  among  normal  persons  under  normal  cir- 
cumstances. 


THE  FEMALE  SEX  INSTINCT  IN  ITS  RELA- 
TION  TO  OUR  MORALITY. 

BY  LEO  M.  GAETMAN,  M.D. 

WHEN  a  man  begins  to  choose  a  bride  he  looks,  as 
a  rule,  for  an  angel,  and  selects  the  one  whom  he  con- 
siders in  all  respects  qualified  to  be  an  angel. 

The  attributes  of  an  angel  are  the  following:  an- 
gelic beauty,  of  course ;  a  quiet,  amiable,  submissive 
character  (the  man  considers  himself  so  much  above 
the  woman  that  even  the  angels  are  to  be  submissive 
to  his  will) ;  she  does  not  eat,  she  nibbles  at  her  an- 
gelic food  like  a  birdie ;  she  does  not  walk,  she  flits 
along  with  invisible  steps ;  but  above  all,  angels  are 
absolutely  devoid  of  a  sex  instinct ;  not  only  does  the 
man  expect  his  angel  to  be  entirely  free  from  a  sex 
instinct,  but  he  presupposes  no  knowledge,  not  the 
slightest  idea  of  what  the  relations  of  the  sexes  con- 
sist in.  She  is  supposed  to  be  in  love  with  him,  but 
this  love  should  be  of  a  pure  (?)  sexless  character — 
a  love  which  does  not  exist.  Any  knowledge  of  the 
sex  relation  would  remove  from  her  the  halo  of  holi- 
ness, regardless  of  the  real  human  qualities  she  may 
possess.  The  gentleman  himself  has  received  his 
thorough  instruction  on  the  subject  from  some  other 
charitable  female;  he  had  indulged  already  in  the 

313 


314  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

strong  drink  of  sexual  passion,  lie  paid  for  all  possi- 
ble forcible  excitation  of  his  sexual  passion ;  lie  pre- 
fers the  ''peach"  Blanche,  the  "Devil"  of  an  Italian 
Rosa,  to  the  pale-faced  Lillian ;  in  fact  he  prefers  the 
bright  red  rose  to  the  white  rose.  But  his  wife  to  be 
must  be  a  colorless  pale  blossom,  that  never  attracted 
a  bee. 

Once  married,  a  profound  change  takes  place,  and 
this  change  demonstrates  the  difference  between  our 
ideals  and  reality.  If  the  man  finds  his  wife  a  real 
angel,  really  without  a  sex  instinct,  he  becomes 
highly  indignant,  indeed  furious;  what  pleasure  is 
there  to  have  a  piece  of  ice  for  a  mate.  He  sends  her 
to  a  physician  and  if  no  speedy  improvement  results 
he  returns  to  his  old  friend  the  "Italian  Rosa,"  who 
for  pay  will  exhibit  plenty  of  fire. 

If,  on  the  contrary,  he  discovers  that  she  has  a  sex 
instinct,  and  that  her  instinct  is  stronger  than  his, 
and  that  she  demands  from  him  more  than  he  is  able 
to  supply,  then,  of  course,  he  is  disagreeably 
shocked ;  how  dare  a  wife  put  forth  demands,  which 
He,  the  Man,  the  ornament  and  strength  of  all  living, 
cannot  supply  and  must  acknowledge  himself  beaten. 
Why?  This  is  immorality!  sensuality!  etc. 

The  man  thinks  that  he  only  has  a  sex  instinct,  and 
expects  his  wife,  without  a  sex  instinct,  to  be  suffi- 
ciently pliable  to  satisfy  his  requirements  completely, 
no  less  and,  above  all,  no  more ;  just  made  to  order 
like  a  tailor-made  garment. 


SEXUAL  TEUTHS  315 

And  still  you  cannot  blame  the  man  at  all  for  his 
ignorance,  it  is  the  ignorance  of  the  whole  civilized 
human  race.  I  said  the  ignorance  of  civilized  human- 
ity, because  among  the  lower  races  of  humanity  this 
ignorance  does  not  exist.  .Among  the  ignorant,  un- 
cultured peoples,  the  question  of  the  relation  of  the 
sexes  is  not  a  secret,  and  boys  and  girls  alike,  at  the 
age  of  puberty,  in  their  small  curriculum  of  instruc- 
tion, receive  a  complete  course  of  instruction  in  sex- 
ology, and  midwifery.  In  fact,  next  to  the  secrets 
of  war,  and  obtaining  of  nourishment,  the  relations 
of  the  sexes  form  the  most  important  subject  of  in- 
struction. For  these  people  there  are  no  secrets,  no 
false  ideals,  and  no  disappointments. 

On  the  contrary  in  civilized  countries  the  igno- 
rance of  sex  matters  is  absolute.  Not  only  does  the 
young  man  think  of  his  wife-to-be  as  an  angel,  but 
her  parents  who  passed  already  through  the  same 
stages  of  disappointment  before  him,  also  claim  and 
think  that  their  daughter  is  an  angel.  She  herself, 
though  knowing  well  that  she  is  not  inclined  to  be  an 
angel,  will  play  her  part,  the  part  of  an  angel,  so 
skilfully  that  all  around  her  will  be  deceived ;  there- 
fore every  now  and  then  you  will  find  scientific  ob- 
servers who  claim  that  a  great  part  of  the  female 
race  are  angels.  A  childish  delusion ! 

We  will  take  up  the  study  of  the  female  sex  in- 
stinct not  only  among  the  civilized  races,  but  we  will 
examine  the  female  sex  instinct  in  the  whole  human 
race,  civilized,  uncivilized,  Christian  and  heathen. 


316  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

Fundamentally  there  is  no  difference  between  the 
male  and  female  sex  instinct;  if  unsatisfied,  the  fe- 
male pays  the  same  penalties  as  the  male  and  often 
more  than  the  male. 

All  living  beings  are  ruled  by  two  fundamental  in- 
stincts :  the  instinct  of  self-preservation  and  the  in- 
stinct of  self -perpetuation.  These  two  instincts  op- 
erate alike  on  both  sexes.  Both  sexes  eat;  and  the 
punishment  for  not  being  able  to  comply  with  that 
requirement  is  death. 

Both  sexes  have  the  instinct  of  self-perpetuation, 
and  disobedience  is  punished  by  the  absence  of  off- 
spring. The  suffering  from  food  hunger  and  from 
sex  hunger  are  alike,  except  in  their  quality.  Alike 
for  both  sexes.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  punishment 
meted  out  by  absence  of  offspring  is  more  severe,  be- 
cause more  lasting.  The  absence  of  offspring  is  in 
itself  a  severe  punishment,  because  it  is  in  the  char- 
acter of  all  living  creatures  to  desire  offspring,  but 
especially  so  in  the  female.  Every  one  who  has  wit- 
nessed the  sufferings  of  the  childless  female,  will 
have  noticed  that  they  are  willing  to  undergo  priva- 
tion, or  a  painful  and  even  serious  operation  to  be 
able  to  have  a  child.  Frequently  when  a  woman  finds 
out  that  her  husband  is  at  fault,  she  will  submit  once 
or  a  few  times  to  have  intercourse  with  another  man, 
just  to  have  a  child  of  her  own ;  and  I  have  seen  hus- 
bands who  induced  the  women  to  do  so. 

The  sex  instinct  itself,  regardless  of  offspring, 
must  also  be  satisfied;  and  therefore  it  is  a  mis- 


SEXUAL  TEUTHS  317 

taken  conception  that  a  woman  can  more  easily 
remain  a  celibate  than  a  man.  If  the  female  cannot 
satisfy  her  sex  hunger  in  a  normal  way,  she  will, 
like  the  male,  satisfy  her  craving  in  an  artificial 
way;  the  different  forms  of  masturbation  are  just 
as  prevalent  among  females  as  among  males.  The 
females  try  to  prevent  rupture  of  the  hymen,  and 
necessity  makes  them  invent  different  forms  of  sat- 
isfying their  sexual  hunger.  Neither  do  they  have 
to  be  instructed  by  others,  but  they  invent  these 
different  forms  of  satisfaction,  like  many  boys  do. 

The  nervous  sufferings  of  females  from  not  sat- 
isfying their  sexual  hunger  properly  are  by  far  the 
most  distressing.  One  could  write  extensively  on 
this  subject,  notwithstanding  the  difficulties  one  en- 
counters in  its  investigation.  Frequently  patients 
call  to  consult  a  physician  on  the  subject,  and  the 
patients  themselves  have  to  be  led  by  questions  until 
one  can  reach  to  the  real  causes  of  their  troubles. 
One  who  does  not  know  it,  will  frequently  miss  the 
fa-hole  question.  And  I  can  say  that  sexual  hunger 
Is  responsible  for  a  great  variety  of  nervous  diseases 
of  supposed  obscure  character ;  seemingly  causeless 
irritability,  restlessness,  unkindness  and  even  cruel- 
ty. Many  of  these  troubles  disappear  after  complete 
satisfaction,  and  a  state  of  health  follows,  but  in 
many  other  instances  the  damage  to  the  nervous 
system  is  so  profound  that  complete  recovery  can- 
not be  expected. 

The  female  sex  instinct,  like  the  male  instinct, 


318  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

may  be  classified  as  strong,  moderate,  absent  and 
inverted.  All  these  varieties  may  be  found  in  the  fe- 
males of  one  or  another  race,  but  still  there  are  races 
where  the  females  as  a  whole  are  sexually  weak, 
and  in  others  they  are  strong.  The  sexually  weakest 
female  I  consider  the  Lithuanian  and  North  Ger- 
man, and  among  them  are  found  many  frigid  women. 
The  females  of  Southern  Europe  are  sexually 
stronger  and  among  them  are  found  only  a  few 
frigid  females.  The  Jewish  woman  possesses  a  still 
stronger  reproductive  instinct,  but  still  I  meet  among 
them  every  now  and  then  frigid  women.  The  negro 
woman  is  still  stronger  sexually,  and  so  far  I  have 
not  met  yet  a  frigid  negro  female.  The  Chinese 
and  Japanese  females  are  still  of  a  higher  type. 
The  Hindoo  woman  is  still  more  sexed,  and  to  such 
an  extent  that  there  does  not  exist  (I  think),  a 
white  male  able  to  satisfy  her.  The  highest  sexual 
development  is  reached  in  the  Egyptian  woman,  so 
much  so  that  even  the  Egyptian  male,  who  belongs 
to  the  sexually  strongest  males  on  the  globe,  finds 
difficulty  in  satisfying  her.  From  the  point  of  view 
of  our  morality  they  are  the  most  immoral,  the  most 
abandoned  women  on  earth,  but  it  seems  that  natural 

instincts  do  not  jibe  well  with  our  morality. 
*        *        * 

The  difference  in  the  sex  instincts  of  the  male  and 
female  is  a  matter  of  function  and  is  related  to  the 
ends  each  has  in  view,  however  blindly.  The  func- 
tion of  the  male  is  to  impregnate  and  he  is  pushed 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  319 

to  the  performance  of  this  act  by  a  strong  blind 
force.  Periodicity  is  absent.  The  course  of  his 
desire  is  well  nigh  uniform.  On  the  other  hand 
the  female  has  to  be  impregnated,  carry  and  later 
nurse  the  child.  The  future  of  the  race  depends 
upon  the  success  of  this  whole  process.  Though  pas- 
sive (apparently)  in  the  act  of  copulation,  the  wo- 
man becomes  active  from  the  time  of  conception 
until  the  child  is  able  to  take  solid  nourishment. 
Her  activity,  even  later,  expresses  itself  in  her  love 
for  the  offspring. 

Let  us  take  a  look  at  the  differences  of  the  repro- 
ductive instincts  of  the  male  and  female.  The  nor- 
mal human  sex  instinct  manifests  itself  in  three 
separate  phases :  the  introduction  to  the  copulative 
act,  kissing  and  embracing;  the  reproductive  act  it- 
self; and  the  desire  for  offspring.  In  men  the  first 
phase  is  not  always  very  pronounced.  Many  men 
go  to  their  wives  without  any  love  making.  In  the 
great  majority  of  cases  the  thought  of  children  plays 
no  part  in  the  copulative  act  of  men.  The  male  is 
driven  to  the  sex  act  because  he  cannot  control  the 
force  that  urges  him.  "Whether  his  sex  instinct  is 
weak  or  strong  makes  little  difference.  The  ques- 
tion of  children  only  occurs  to  him  at  the  time  when 
he  is  free  from  sexual  excitement.  It  is  only  in 
repose,  not  in  the  act  of  coition,  that  this  mood  comes 
to  him.  To  the  male  therefore,  the  ordinary  pros- 
titute may  serve  and  often  does  serve  as  a  means  of 
complete  sexual  gratification. 


320  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

With  the  female  sex  it  is  quite  different.  In  most 
cases  the  female  demands  and  feels  all  three  phases 
of  the  sex  instinct.  She  desires  to  be  embraced  and 
kissed,  and  very  often  without  this  the  sex  act  is 
not  satisfactory  to  her.  She  thinks,  she  cannot  help 
thinking,  of  the  time  when  she  will  have  offspring, 
and  of  course  the  reproductive  act  itself  plays  the 
prominent  part.  Of  course  there  are  exceptions  in 
which  the  female  is  characterized  by  an  absence  of 
any  one  of  these  phases,  but  not  frequently.  There 
are  women  who  are  afraid  to  become  mothers,  some 
who  do  not  care  for  kisses,  and  still  others  who 
abhor  the  act  of  copulation,  but  all  these  are  excep- 
tional cases. 

I  have  heard  women  say:  "I  love  my  children, 
because  I  love  my  husband  and  it  is  his  love  that 
takes  precedence.  Without  it,  I  do  not  think  I 
could  love  our  children  so  well.  Of  course  the  act  of 
copulation  is  the  most  important  part,  but  without 
the  preliminaries,  the  close  embracing  and  love- 
making,  I  do  not  think  I  would  enjoy  it  so  much." 
Thus  speaks  an  honest  woman,  healthy  in  body  and 
mind,  a  mother  of  a  large  progeny.  She  is  candid, 
she  has  no  reason  to  deceive  any  one. 

The  difference  in  regard  to  sex  functions  depends 
on  menstruation,  pregnancy,  and  lactation.  Men- 
struation increases  the  sex  feeling  in  all  females, 
not  only  among  humans  but  among  all  females  where 
its  equivalent  exists.  During  two  days  prior  to  men- 
struation and  during  menstruation  the  female  sex 


SEXUAL  TEUTHS  321 

instinct  increases  in  strength.  During  pregnancy 
the  sex  instinct  of  the  sexually  weak  woman  dimin- 
ishes or  disappears;  in  the  sexually  strong  woman 
it  persists  during  the  whole  nine  months.  But  I 
cannot  see  that  it  has  any  significance,  and  it  may 
be  only  due  to  the  freedom  people  permit  themselves 
during  pregnancy.  Before  the  woman  became  preg- 
nant measures  were  taken  to  prevent  conception,  and 
both  husband  and  wife  were  half-starved.  It  is  when 
pregnancy  is  an  established  fact  that  measures  are 
no  longer  taken  to  prevent  conception.  This  feeling 
of  safety  causes  all  taboos  to  disappear  and  the  pair 
forget  the  days  of  starvation. 

During  lactation  the  sex  feeling  in  the  female  is 
diminished,  or,  more  correctly  speaking,  assumes  a 
new  character.  I  have  often  heard  women  say  that 
the  first  time  the  infant  takes  the  breast  in  its  mouth 
all  previous  sufferings  are  forgotten.  Questioning 
the  women  what  kind  of  a  sensation  this  produces 
in  them,  I  found  some  willing  to  explain  it ;  and  the 
the  consensus  of  their  statement  is  that  nursing  the 
child  is  akin  to  strong  sexual  relations,  and  indeed 
satisfies  their  sexual  desires  more  than  the  real  act 
could  satisfy  them.  Acting  on  these  statements,  I 
followed  up  this  question  and  have  found  it  more  or 
less  universal.  For  instance  among  many  nations 
when  a  woman  gives  birth  to  a  child  she  leaves  her 
husband's  hut  and  retires  to  her  own.  The  husband 
in  the  meantime  buys  another  wife.  The  mother 
nurses  the  infant  for  two,  three  and  even  four  years 


322  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

and  during  all  this  time  she  is  forbidden  to  cohabit 
with  her  husband.  I  have  followed  the  literature 
on  this  subject  to  see  if  I  could  find  many  cases  of 
women  during  this  time  having  illegal  relations  with 
other  men.  The  cases  were  found  to  be  rare  and 
exceptional.  Even  the  missionaries,  who  are  ever 
ready  to  condemn  every  non-Christian  institution, 
rarely  find  fault  in  this  case.  This,  in  the  absence  of 
moral  prohibition,  strengthens  my  idea  that  lacta- 
tion and  nursing  is  to  the  female  the  equivalent  of 
normal  sexual  relations.  But  it  is  of  great  import. 
Another  pregnancy  would  deprive  the  child  of  its 
mother's  milk.  And  as  this  could  not  be  replaced, 
especially  in  countries  where  infant  foods  are  un- 
known, by  constant  lactation  for  two  or  three  years, 

the  female  thus  insures  the  life  of  her  child. 

*        *        * 

As  I  have  said  already,  the  sex  instinct  of  the 
female  may  be  classified  as  strong,  moderate,  absent 
and  inverted.  A  male  without  a  sex  instinct,  or  with 
a  very  weak  one,  seldom  takes  a  wife,  unless  he  does 
so  for  purely  social  or  political  reasons.  A  female 
without  a  sex  instinct  often  does  marry,  because 
though  not  having  any  sexual  desire,  she  may  still 
have  a  strong  love  for  offspring.  In  this  case  it  is 
a  purely  feminine  reason  and  cannot  and  does  not 
act  in  the  case  of  man.  Once  her  desire  for  children 
has  been  satisfied  she  has  little  or  no  use  for  her 
husband,  and  the  act  of  coition  becomes  still  more 
repugnant  to  her.  One  case  I  know  of  reveals  a 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  323 

condition  which  resulted  in  the  woman  answering 
her  husband:  "Here  is  a  dollar,  and  go!'*  The 
woman  did  this  in  face  of  the  fact  that  her  moral 
code  was  being  violated,  and  her  children  were  sadly 
in  need  of  the  money  to  give  them  added  nourish- 
ment. In  another  family  where  the  dollar  had  little 
or  no  value,  the  wife  said  to  her  husband:  "Do  with 
yourself  as  you  wish,  but  do  not  make  a  fool  of  your- 
self or  create  a  scandal."  In  still  another  case  the 
wife  gave  her  husband  perfect  liberty  and  he  enjoyed 
her  confidence  to  such  an  extent  that  he  related  to 
her  all  his  love  affairs  and  experiences.  She  would 
grieve  with  him  in  his  failures  and  share  with  him 
the  joys  of  his  successes.  This  class  of  woman  sel- 
dom have  any  desire  to  satisfy  themselves  artifi- 
cially, and  therefore  it  is  among  this  class  that  the 
real  celibates  and  advocates  of  female  celibacy  are 
found. 

The  females  with  a  moderate  sex  instinct,  even  in 
countries  where  they  are  given  considerable  freedom, 
are  usually  satisfied  with  one  husband,  unless  he 
is  sexually  weak.  If  not  married  they  quickly  find 
artificial  means  to  gratify  themselves.  If  success- 
fully mated  and  well  matched  sexually  they  as  a  rule 
produce  a  goodly  number  of  children  and  make  excel- 
lent wives  and  mothers.  If  not  married  they  con- 
tribute quite  a  large  number  to  the  ranks  of  pros- 
titutes. 

The  sexually  strong  women  among  some  nations 
are  given  considerable  latitude  and  freedom  of  ac- 


824  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

tion.  But  our  morality  cheats  her  and  condemns  her 
as  a  criminal  and  outcast.  Our  moral  code  gives  her 
no  right  to  satisfy  her  sex  cravings  and  because  of 
this  she  must  suffer  a  life  of  chronic  sexual  hunger. 
It  was  decided  long  ago  by  sexually  weak  men  that 
these  females  should  lead  a  life  not  according  to 
their  desires  but  according  to  the  sexually  weak 
man's  moral  code.  It  makes  no  difference  what  is 
good  for  her  or  what  is  not,  she  must  abide  by  the 
code.  In  view  of  this  nothing  is  left  open  to  this 
class  of  women  but  to  suffer  or  to  be  social  cheats, 
sexual  hypocrites.  She  may,  if  she  is  strong  enough 
to  come  out  into  the  open,  live  the  life  of  a  free 
woman.  This,  however,  requires  greater  courage 
than  that  of  clandestinely  breaking  the  sexual  code. 
Very  often  their  sex  instincts  are  aroused  before 
they  really  become  conversant  with  our  sexual  code. 
These  cases  very  often  succumb  when  very  young 
and  then  never  make  any  effort  to  harmonize  their 
sex  life  with  the  morality  of  the  age.  Out  of  this 
class  of  women  most  of  our  prostitutes  are  recruited. 
Many  of  this  class  of  women  engage  in  a  deadly  and 
tragic  battle  with  their  sex  cravings  in  an  effort  to 
control  them  by  the  moral  code,  but  it  is  usually 
without  success;  and  if  the  woman  is  intelligent 
enough  and  is  able  to  appreciate  the  real  value  of 
our  moral  code,  she  begins  to  lead  the  life  of  a  free 
woman.  Some  others  meet  sexually  strong  hus- 
bands and  when  this  happens  they  make  excellent 
wives  and  mothers. 


SEXUAL  TBUTHS  325 

Another  peculiarity  about  the  female  with  a  strong 
sex  instinct  is  that  she  has  a  strong  love  for  off- 
spring. After  the  birth  of  each  child  her  sexual 
appetite  increases,  and  after  the  birth  of  two  or  three 
children  her  reproductive  appetite  reaches  higher 
and  higher.  "When  her  craving  for  children  has  been 
satisfied,  she  is  then  urged  by  an  ever  stronger  and 
blind  force  to  procreate  more  and  more.  The  first 
is  always  the  child  that  is  desired,  the  second  less 
so,  the  third,  fourth  and  so  on  are  merely  accidental, 
because  her  sex  instinct  is  too  strong  to  be  controlled. 

There  is  one  point  of  difference  between  the  sex 
instinct  of  the  male  and  female  which  is  of  consider- 
able interest.  And  that  is  the  disproportion  that 
exists  almost  exclusively  among  so  styled  civilized 
white  races  between  the  duration  of  the  sex  act  of 
the  male  and  female.  There  is  not  the  slightest 
doubt  that  among  the  Africans,  Asiatics  and  Aus- 
tralasians the  sexual  act  lasts  considerably  longer 
than  among  the  white  races.  In  Africans  from  15 
to  30  minutes  and  frequently  longer.  Among  white 
men  five  minutes  is  considered  the  longest  time,  three 
minutes  about  normal,  and  among  many  men  not 
even  that  long;  and  this  does  not  satisfy  the  white 
female.  But  there  are  may  men  who  have  entirely 
premature  ejaculations,  and  this  is  one  of  the  most 
distressing  conditions  that  a  white  female  meets  in 
her  married  life. 

There  are  mainly  two  causes  that  contribute  to 
premature  emission,  one  is  urethritis  (posterior)] 


326  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

which  is  often  amenable  to  treatment.  But  the  most 
frequent  is  the  psychic  variety,  and  it  is  so  important 
that  I  will  try  to  show  its  origin.  Our  ideas  are  to- 
tally against  early  marriages.  Among  other  nations 
youths  marry  between  14  and  20  years  of  age.  In 
our  midst  such  marriages  would  be  considered  ridic- 
ulous. But  the  sex  instinct  appears  at  the  age  of 
12  or  13  years,  therefore  we  condemn  our  young  boys 
and  girls  to  masturbation  and  to  prostitutes.  Mas- 
turbation has  a  considerably  harmful  influence  on  the 
nervous  system,  but  this  is  not  so  very  great.  The 
relationship  of  a  youth  to  the  prostitute  has,  out- 
side of  diseases  and  the  moral  atmosphere  of  a 
bawdy  house,  a  very  deleterious  influence  on  the 
nerve  centers  of  reproduction. 

The  first  few  times  that  a  man  has  intercourse 
with  a  female  is  the  determining  factor  in  the  case, 
and  its  influence  is  frequently  life-long.  If  the  youth 
does  not  wait  until  his  sexual  passion  has  reached 
its  highest  pitch,  and  has  intercourse  undisturbed  by 
fear  and  high  excitement,  he  will  perform  the  act 
satisfactorily  to  both  persons.  But  if  he  is  over- 
scrupulous and  bashful  he  will  wait  until  his  sexual 
passion  is  at  its  highest  point ;  then  timidly  approach 
the  female  and  retreat.  He  will,  for  instance,  ap- 
proach a  bawdy  house  and  at  the  door  become  fright- 
ened by  the  utter  strangeness  of  what  he  is  about 
to  experience,  or  perhaps  he  calls  it  the  enormity  of 
the  crime,  and  therefore  he  will  hastily  run  away. 
But  this  does  neither  satisfy  nor  quiet  his  sexual 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  327 

passion.  He  will  be  compelled  to  repeat  the  same 
maneuver.  He  will  repeat  it  several  times  until  he 
gathers  courage  for  this  act.  But  his  sexual  centers 
have  been  so  excited  that  when  he  comes  to  perform 
the  act  a  premature  emission  takes  place.  The  same 
will  occur  over  and  over  again  until  the  young  man 
establishes  a  habit  from  which  even  when  he  is  mar- 
ried he  will  be  unable  to  escape.  When  a  young  man 
of  this  type  marries  he  commits  nothing  short  of  a 
crime.  If  statistics  on  the  subject  could  be  collected, 
it  would  be  shown  that  this  cause  alone  produces 
more  misery  and  hell  in  the  binding  marriage  con- 
tract than  any  other  cause.  The  sex  desire  of  the 
man  and  woman  has  been  brought  by  mutual  love 
to  the  highest  pitch  of  excitement,  the  normal  repro- 
ductive act  is  about  to  take  place,  but  the  man's  pre- 
mature ejaculation  brings  it  to  an  end — a  highly 
disappointed  female,  and  a  degraded,  insulted  man- 
hood, are  the  results  of  the  whole  performance. 
While  writing  these  lines  a  married  couple  of  this 
character  consulted  me.  The  man  looks  and  acts 
like  a  pauper  in  spirits,  he  is  depressed,  apathetic; 
and  the  woman  is  nearly  ready  to  enter  a  lunatic 
asylum.  Her  nerves  are  so  shattered  that  every- 
thing brings  her  into  a  fury.  Somebody  will  have  to 
tell  them  that  they  must  separate.  It  is  not  rare  in 
my  practice  and  in  the  experience  of  other  prac- 
titioners to  see  a  woman  bringing  her  husband  to 
the  physician  and  stating  the  cause  of  trouble.  She 
states  plainly  that  her  husband  only  irritates  her 


328  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

sex  instinct,  but  never  satisfies  her.  One  woman 
tells  me :  "My  husband  never  satisfied  me,  but  .  .  ." 
and  she  smiled  like  one  who  would  say,  "there  are 

other  men." 

*        *        * 

There  may  arise  the  question :  Which  sex  instinct 
is  stronger,  that  of  the  male  or  the  female! 
The  answer  depends  on  the  point  of  view  one  is 
taking.  Taking  in  consideration  that  there  is  far 
more  polygamy  than  monogamy  or  polyandry,  one 
is  led  to  suppose  that  the  male  sex  instinct  is 
stronger.  But  there  is  another  side  to  this  picture. 
The  male  reproductive  instinct  is  simple  in  character 
in  comparison  with  the  female  instinct.  Let  us  com- 
pare them  on  this  basis.  The  man's  function  is  only 
impregnation;  the  woman's  functions  are  menstru- 
ation, pregnancy,  lactation,  and  all  these  functions 
are  more  or  less  connected  with  sexual  satisfaction. 
Comparing  the  time  a  male  spends  on  his  sexual 
activity  with  the  time  a  female  spends  on  her  sexual 
activity,  there  cannot  be  the  slightest  doubt  that 
the  female  is  far  more  sexually  active  than  the  male. 
How  then  did  our  ideas  originate  that  the  female 
must  be  an  angel?  It  is  this  that  I  am  going  to  re- 
late briefly. 

We  are  able  to  trace  the  origin  of  our  sex  morality 
to  three,  in  all  probability,  independent  centers,  and 
in  all  these  cases  we  find  only  one  force  acting,  one 
underlying  cause. 

The  oldest  center  is  Greece,  with  Plato  at  the 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  329 

head.  We  are  here  not  concerned  with  Plato's  phi- 
losophy in  general,  but  only  as  to  his  influence  on 
our  morality.  Here  are  some  of  his  ideas : 

"But  the  Love  who  is  the  son  of  the  common 
Aphrodite  is  essentially  common,  and  has  no  dis- 
crimination, being  such  as  the  meaner  sort  of  men 
feel,  and  is  apt  to  be  of  woman  as  well  as  of  youths, 
and  is  of  the  body  rather  than  of  the  soul — the  most 
foolish  beings  are  the  objects  of  this  love."  .  .  . 
"But  the  son  of  the  heavenly  Aphrodite  is  sprung 
from  a  mother  in  whose  birth  the  female  has  no 
part,  but  she  is  from  the  male  only,  and  the  goddess 
being  older  has  nothing  of  wantonness.  Those  who 
are  inspired  by  this  love  turn  to  the  male."  In  those 
days  people  of  this  character  were  styled  women 
haters. 

The  second  center  is  Jerusalem.  About  150  years 
before  the  beginning  of  our  era  the  Judaic  sect,  the 
Essenes,  became  prominent.  This  sect  abhorred 
marriage  and  therefore  women  were  not  admitted 
into  their  communities.  Pliny,  Josephus  and  Philo 
describe  them  as  people  who  held  a  very  low  opinion 
of  women;  and  Philo  says  they  were  "women 
haters."  According  to  their  teaching  the  heavens 
are  inhabited  by  sexless  angels,  women  are  not  ad- 
mitted to  heaven,  and  marriage  never  takes  place 
there.  Love  for  a  female  is  low,  a  crime,  a  disgrace, 
but  brotherly  love  is  holy  and  heavenly. 

The  third  center  is  Alexandria  with  Philo  as  a 
leader  (about  the  beginning  of  our  era) .  Philo  in  his 


330  SEXUAL  TEUTHS 

philosophy  is  a  follower  of  Plato  and  was  a  natural 
*  *  woman-hater. ' ' 

The  philosophy  of  these  different  sects  spread  all 
over  the  Mediterranean  basin,  and  was  accepted  by 
many  normal  hnman  beings.  For  instance  St.  Paul 
was  an  adept  of  the  Philonic  philosophy,  and  his 
writings  represent  a  fac-simile  of  the  philosophy  of 
Philo.  James  of  Jerusalem  was  under  the  influence 
of  the  teachings  of  the  Essenes.  The  compiler  of 
"St.  John"  was  a  follower  of  Plato.  The  history 
of  the  development  of  our  sex  morality  lies  com- 
pletely within  the  domain  of  the  history  of  religion, 
which  has  no  room  in  a  medical  work,  but  I  will  deal 
here  shortly  with  the  influence  it  exerted  on  our  sex 
morality.  Its  influence  was  in  two  different  ways. 

Women  were  not  admitted  to  heaven;  later  a 
modification  took  place,  that  women  may  be  ad- 
mitted to  heaven,  but  they  must  be  as  pure  and 
sexless  as  an  angel ;  and  in  this  way  was  established 
a  standard  that  only  women  that  are  as  sexless  as 
angels  are  of  the  highest  type,  hence  our  angelic 
morality. 

But  not  all  women  can  be  angels :  what  of  the  bulk 
of  womankind?  The  original  idea  of  the  "woman 
haters"  that  a  female  is  an  unholy,  unclean  being 
predominated.  One  writer  claims  that  a  woman  is 
the  invention  of  the  devil  to  lure  men  from  heaven. 
With  ideas  of  that  character,  is  there  a  wonder  that 
men  looked  at  the  female  as  something  far  below 
him? 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  331 

Under  the  influence  of  these  ideas  the  female  was 
deprived  of  all  her  civil  and  property  rights,  a  con- 
dition which  exists  yet  to-day.  James  Bryce  writes 
as  follows  ("Marriage  and  Divorce/'  p.  35) :  "Mar- 
riage carried  with  it  an  absorption  of  the  person- 
ality of  the  English  wife  into  that  of  the  husband 
whereby  all  her  property  passed  to  him  and  she 
became  subject  to  his  authority  and  control."  This 
condition  became  prevalent  in  the  whole  of  Europe. 

One  more  point.  According  to  the  philosophy  of 
the  woman-haters  the  normal  relation  of  the  sexes 
is  an  abomination.  They,  indeed,  have  a  forcible, 
uncontrollable  aversion  not  only  to  the  female  but 
also  to  normal  reproduction,  in  fact  an  aversion  to 
everything  that  directly  or  even  remotely  has  any 
reference  to  normal  relations  of  the  sexes,  and  it  is 
this  aversion  of  the  woman-hater  that  lies  at  the 
foundation  of  our  present  sex  morality.  The  abnor- 
mal became  the  moral — brotherly  love.  The  normal 
became  the  immoral — sisterly  love. 

Comparing  the  sex  instinct  of  the  male  and  female 
we  are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  though  each  is 
made  up  of  a  reproductive  mechanism  entirely  un- 
like, they,  nevertheless,  when  brought  together  form 
a  complete  harmony;  there  is  between  them  an  al- 
most complete  coordination  and  the  outcome  is  re- 
production, safety  of  the  offspring  and  little  or  no 
suffering  to  the  parents. 

When  our  morality  steps  in,  a  morality  founded 
on  the  ridiculous  idea  that  since  there  are  sexless 


332  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

angels  in  heaven  it  should  be  our  privilege  as  hu- 
man beings  and  sons  of  God  to  imitate  their  habits 
and  abandon  the  sex  instinct  as  abominable,  the 
trouble  begins.  Instead  of  harmony  and  coordina- 
tion and  usefulness  we  get  discord  and  pain  out  of 
the  performance  of  our  natural  functions.  This  is 
the  most  crying  shame  of  our  civilization,  for  every- 
where instead  of  happiness  we  get  only  pain.  Our 
strife  after  the  heaven  of  the  future  results  in  noth- 
ing more  than  hell  here. 

Our  state  of  society,  or  what  we  call  civilization, 
centers  about  one  point  and  that  is  sexlessness.  Too 
much  cannot  be  said  against  the  theological  dogma 
that  gives  rise  to  this  state  of  mind.  "We  have  taken 
our  opinion  on  these  things  from  a  little  obscure, 
ignorant  cult  which  influenced  the  mind  of  the  Medit- 
erranean world,  and  hold  it  up  before  the  whole 
human  race  as  the  perfection  of  morality.  We  want 
to  imitate  angels,  because  the  Christian  fathers  in- 
sisted on  this  ideal.  "We  are  told  by  them  that  the 
sex  instinct  is  shameful  and  criminal,  productive 
only  of  low  ideals.  But  this  instinct  refuses  to  be 
banished  from  society;  though  if  one  looked  on  us 
as  a  newcomer  from  Mars  one  might  believe  that 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  sex  feeling,  so  low  has 
it  sunk  under  the  iron  weight  of  saintliness.  The 
mere  mention  of  the  word  "sex"  is  regarded  with 
suspicion  and  in  some  quarters  must  not  even  be 
hinted  at.  Our  whole  civilization  is  built  up  to 
cover  the  sex  feeling  with  shame.  Our  houses  are 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  333 

made  for  "privacy,"  our  clothing  is  to  cover  all 
traces  of  the  reproductive  mechanism ;  our  literature 
is  shamefully  devoid  of  the  healthy  expressions  of 
the  most  powerful  impulse  to  art.  The  same  thing 
is  true  of  our  art,  philosophy  and  morality.  Even 
many  of  our  sciences  avoid  mention  of  this  most  fun- 
damental force  in  life  and  for  a  long  time,  indeed, 
suffered  because  of  the  ban  on  even  the  scientific 
treatment  of  the  subject.  Is  it  not  time  that  we  had 
rid  ourselves  of  this  incubus?  "While  its  claws  are 
sunk  deep  into  our  throats  how  can  we  expect  to  do 
more  or  achieve  finer  things  than  we  have  already 
done? 

Our  day  will  come,  and  it  is  not  far  distent. 


THE  REGULATION  OF  OFFSPRING  AND 
SEXUAL  MORALITY 

BY   H.    POTTHOFF 

ANXIETY  over  a  decrease  in  the  birthrate  has  led 
us  to  discuss  and  probe  publicly  some  of  the  most 
important  social  facts  which  had  thus  far  been  kept 
carefully  concealed  as  being-  of  a  mysterious  or  di- 
vine nature  or  indecent;  this  is  to  be  welcomed  as 
a  significant  step  in  advance. 

It  is  quite  difficult  to  understand  why  our  ' '  scien- 
tific" age  had  allowed  all  the  facts  of  scientific  re- 
search to  stop  at  the  very  point  where  they  assumed 
their  greatest  importance,  that  is  as  soon  as  man 
was  concerned ;  why  this  rational  age  had  entrusted 
to  the  blind  instincts  of  the  individual  the  most  im- 
portant of  all  things,  the  very  foundation  of  state 
and  society ;  why  this  age  so  fond  of  regulation  and 
legislation  had  allowed  the  unintelligence  and  the 
selfishness  of  the  individual  to  decide  the  most 
capital  questions  and  also  left  to  the  individual  the 
care  of  and  the  responsibility  for  the  next  genera- 
tion; why  this  age  of  "political  economy"  had  re- 
fused so  long  to  apply  to  the  creation  and  breeding 
of  men  the  main  principle  of  all  technical  and  eco- 
nomic work :  to  obtain  the  greatest  results  with  the 

835 


336  SEXUAL  TRUTHS, 

smallest  expenditure,  so  that  our  so  called  "national 
economy"  might  include  not  only  the  production  and 
marketing  of  goods  but  also  the  production  of  men. 

The  agitation  centering  about  the  decrease  of  the 
birthrate  will  open  many  people's  eyes  to  the  impor- 
tance and  the  necessity  of  "human  economy"  which 
would  apply  to  every  individual  and  to  every  com- 
munity of  individuals  the  basic  principles  of  syste- 
matic management.  The  tone  of  the  discussion  rag- 
ing about  the  decrease  of  the  birthrate,  however, 
shows  us  how  far  the  day  still  is  when  such  a  sys- 
tem of  human  economy  will  be  adopted.  Most  people 
consider  the  problem  as  a  moral  problem  and  talk 
about  the  decrease  of  the  birthrate  as  though  it  were 
something  immoral. 

The  first  legislative  attempts  on  the  part  of  the 
Bundesrath  and  the  Eeichstag  to  cope  with  the  situ- 
ation were  inspired  by  a  desire  to  wage  a  fight,  so 
to  speak,  on  immoral  phenomena.  The  framers  of 
that  legislation  overlook  the  fact  that  immorality 
is  only  one  of  many  factors  and  that  besides  moral 
factors  there  are  tremendous  economic  factors.  In 
fact  I  consider  economic  factors  as  the  most  im- 
portant in  this  connection  and  a  few  commercial 
regulations  will  not  counterbalance  the  economic 
facts  owing  to  which  the  cost  of  living  is  rising,  cities 
are  overcrowded  and  farms  deserted.  It  is  only  some 
agrarians  gone  mad  who  would  suggest  a  further 
increase  of  the  cost  of  living  as  a  corrective  measure 
for  the  decrease  of  the  birthrate. 


SEXUAL  TKUTHS  337 

The  worst  part  of  it  is  that  the  problem  is  not 
approached  properly.  We  are  always  talking  of 
the  number  of  births  as  though  that  was  the  impor- 
tant thing.  In  fact  the  number  of  births  is  quite 
unimportant.  What  counts  is  the  number  of  chil- 
dren who  survive.  How  many  workingmen's  wives 
were  there  and  are  there  even  now  who  would  give 
birth  to  twelve  children  out  of  whom  no  more  than 
five  would  reach  their  twentieth  year?  If  those 
women  only  bore  eight  children  out  of  whom  six 
would  live  there  would  be  a  decrease  of  the  birthrate 
but  at  the  same  time  an  increase  of  the  population. 
This  is  exactly  what  we  observe  in  the  movement  of 
Germany's  population  in  the  last  fifty  years.  While 
the  birthrate  has  fallen  from  40  per  1,000  to  28  per 
1,000,  the  natural  increase  of  the  population  due  to 
births  is  as  large  now  as  it  was  in  1870.  And  be- 
sides owing  to  a  decrease  of  the  deathrate  and  of 
emigration,  the  population  of  Germany  is  growing 
faster  now  than  it  was  growing  until  1890. 

The  change  we  observe  in  the  movement  of  the 
population  is  not  an  end  in  itself  but  only  a  means 
to  an  end.  That  change  is  rather  pleasant  to  con- 
sider. A  decrease  of  the  birthrate  is  being  compen- 
sated by  a  corresponding  decrease  of  the  deathrate, 
especially  among  children.  The  former  decrease 
is  probably  due  to  the  latter,  if  we  believe  the  much 
mooted  statement  of  Eudolph  Goldscheid,  the  Vi- 
ennese sociologist,  that  human  fertility  is  not  con- 


338  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

slant  but  varies  according  to  the  losses  it  must  make 
up  for. 

We  need  not  discuss  the  consequences  which  Gold- 
scheid  draws  from  the  fact  that  a  decrease  of  fer- 
tility is  made  possible  by  the  conservation  of  life 
(for  instance  when  he  says  that  mass  production 
is  only  trash)1,  but  it  is  absolutely  certain  that  the 
methods  employed  nowadays  to  conserve  the  popu- 
lation and  increase  it  are  more  economical  and  there- 
fore more  civilized  than  the  methods  prevailing  in 
the  past. 

While  nature  squanders  life  extravagantly  and 
lets  thousands  of  seeds  go  to  waste  in  the  hope  that 
a  few  of  them  may  grow,  civilization  goes  about  in  a 
systematic  manner  and  only  sows  a  few  seeds  where 
they  will  have  a  fair  chance  to  grow  and  it  does  its 
best  to  conserve  all  life  produced  in  that  way. 

Labor  protection  is  conserving  health,  fatherhood 
and  motherhood,  social  insurance  and  popular  hy- 
giene are  saving  life  from  destruction,  especially 
the  lives  of  the  newborn  who  would  perish  by  the 
thousand.  This  relieves  our  economists  of  heavy 
financial  problems,  saves  families  from  much  sor- 
row, women  from  the  useless  wear  and  tear  of  body 
and  mind,  which  the  bearing  and  burying  of  100,000 
children  entails. 

In  spite  of  all,  one-fourth  of  all  the  human  beings 
born  die  in  childhood.  If  the  death  rate  was  as 

'See  Goldscheid's  "Higher  development  and  human  economy*' 
Leipzig,  1911. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  339 

low  in  Germany  as  it  is  in  England  or  in  Sweden 
the  birthrate  could  fall  off  another  ten  per  cent  with- 
out decreasing  the  number  of  children. 

Such  data  of  human  economy  show  that  most  of 
the  moral  objections  to  the  regulation  of  the  process 
of  procreation  are  absolutely  groundless.  Any  at- 
tempt at  increasing  the  population  in  an  economical 
way  with  the  smallest  possible  expenditure,  is  as 
moral  as  the  use  of  lightning  conductors  or  dykes 
to  protect  men  from  harmful  natural  forces. 

Therefore  it  is  unfortunate  that  Malthus'  name 
should  be  in  any  way  connected  with  this  recent 
movement.  This  movement  starts  from  quite  a  dif- 
ferent viewpoint  and  has  an  entirely  different  aim. 
Malthus  was  a  pessimist.  His  "philosophy  of  mis- 
ery" was  based  upon  the  supposed  disproportion 
between  human  fertility  and  the  increase  of  food- 
stuffs. We,  on  the  other  hand,  are  optimists  and  we 
have  an  unlimited  confidence  in  the  development  of 
applied  science.  Malthus  only  had  one  aim:  to  de- 
crease the  extent  of  poverty;  we  believe  in  the  pos- 
sibility of  increasing  endlessly  human  happiness. 
Our  aim  is  to  produce  as  many  men  as  possible  who 
will  be  as  efficient  as  possible  and  as  happy  as  pos- 
sible. Therefore  we  do  not  seek  like  Malthus  to 
decrease  the  number  of  human  beings  but  to  in- 
crease it.  Not  by  increasing  the  number  of  births 
but  by  regulating  it,  a  regulation  which  would  in 
many  cases  result  in  a  direct  increase. 

Our  great  "moralists"  who  fear  the  regulation 


340  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

of  offspring  kill  off  thousands  of  children  with  their 
moral  prejudices,  thousands  of  children  who  lack 
nothing  but  a  legitimate  father.  Every  legal  and 
economic  improvement  of  the  condition  of  illegiti- 
mate children  always  fosters  an  increase  of  the  birth- 
rate. So  does  every  measure  limiting  the  working 
hours  of  women  and  children,  developing  social  in- 
surance and  affording  protection  to  mothers. 

And  if  we  are  going  to  make  divorce  any  easier 
the  desire  of  one  of  the  mates  to  have  children 
should  be  deemed  sufficient  to  break  up  a  childless 
union. 

While  this  "moral"  opposition  to  the  regulation 
of  offspring  cannot  have  very  important  results,  we 
must  realize  that  regulation  will  exert  a  powerful 
influence  on  our  moral  conceptions. 

Our  sexual  morality  is  tottering.  For  it  is  based 
upon  the  assumption  that  the  birth  of  a  child  is 
simply  a  dispensation  of  destiny,  a  gift  from 
heaven.  That  basis  will  be  destroyed  when  we  take 
the  child  from  nature  and  turn  it  over  to  civilization, 
when  its  birth  is  made  to  depend  upon  the  conscious 
will  of  its  parents.  There  will  be  then  married  peo- 
ple and  lovers  who  will  not  desire  a  child  as  the  fruit 
of  their  love  relations ;  there  are  many  to-day.  Not 
one-tenth  of  those  who  yield  to  love  have  any  desire 
for  a  child.  But  our  official  morality  does  not  ap- 
prove of  that.  It  considers  that  love  for  its  own 
sake  is  a  crime  and  that  procreation  only  makes 
sexual  relations  sacred. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  341 

Official  morality  does  not  object  to  conjugal  inter- 
course because  it  results  in  procreation.  The  more 
people  there  are  who  do  not  subscribe  to  this  mo- 
rality as  far  as  they  themselves  are  concerned,  the 
more  hypocrisy  there  is,  for  state,  church  and  so- 
ciety pretend  to  uphold  that  morality.  Let's  only 
recall  the  teachings  of  the  Christian  church  which 
see  in  the  pleasures  of  the  flesh  the  most  damnable 
of  sins;  remember  Wagner's  Parsifal  in  which  Kun- 
dry's  only  crime  is  her  sensuality  while  Parsifal's 
only  merit  is  that  he  escapes  her  lure. 

Even  Emile  Zola,  who  in  spite  of  his  naturalistic 
novels  was  a  very  bourgeois  moralist,  was  not  far 
from  sharing  that  viewpoint.  In  Doctor  Pasqual, 
the  Doctor's  niece,  an  interesting  woman,  who  lives 
with  her  uncle  in  illicit  intercourse,  declares  quite 
positively  that  "  unless  it  has  the  creation  of  a  child 
as  its  aim,  love  is  a  useless  indecency." 

Pasqual 's  niece  happens  to  be  perfectly  honest 
about  it.  But  in  the  majority  of  cases  such  a  view 
of  morality  is  mere  hypocrisy.  And  this  hypocrisy 
will  be  impossible  when  conception  is  no  longer  a 
mere  matter  of  hazard  but  an  act  of  will  on  the  part 
of  the  mates,  when  married  people  will  have  a  per- 
fect right  to  say : "  We  don 't  want  children  or  we  don 't 
want  any  more  children"  (the  reasons  for  such  a 
decision  and  its  moral  value  remaining  open  ques- 
tions). We  will  have  then  to  take  a  frank  and  hon- 
est attitude  towards  sexual  relations  independent 
from  conception,  we  will  have  to  make  up  our  mind 


342  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

as  to  who  is  right,  the  poets  of  love  whose  words 
voice  the  feelings  of  the  majority  of  healthy  people 
or  Christianity  which  sees  in  love  the  greatest  of 
sins  and  Zola  who  sees  in  sterile  love  a  useless  in- 
decency. 

The  increasing  honesty  we  note  nowadays  towards 
eroticism  is  a  sign  of  moral  progress ;  but  it  is  only 
the  first  steps  towards  a  complete  revaluation  of 
all  sexual  values. 

For  what  is  the  basis  of  our  modern  compulsory 
monogamy  except  society's  desire  to  protect  the 
child?  This  is  the  most  plausible  reason  why  so- 
ciety compels  people  who  do  not  love  each  other, 
who  even  abhor  each  other,  to  live  within  conjugal 
bonds,  and  prevents  them  from  living  with  some 
other  person  whom  they  would  love.  As  soon  as 
society  admits  of  consciously  childless  sexual  inter- 
course, the  reason  for  compulsory  monogamy  dis- 
appears. I  say  emphatically  that  this  would  not 
do  away  with  monogamy  for  I  do  not  wish  to  be 
misunderstood.  But  one  would  have  to  seek  new 
reasons  for  monogamy,  to  find  a  new  basis  for  it, 
and  there  comes  the  rub.  For  all  the  other  difficul- 
ties have  been  smoothed  out  by  the  development  of 
science  and  economy  and  all  the  moral  and  cultural 
significance  of  permanent  love  intercourse  with  the 
same  person  is  set  at  naught  as  soon  as  love  is  re- 
placed by  dislike  or  hatred,  when  the  union  is  recog- 
nized as  an  error  by  both  parties. 

Faithfulness,  especially  conjugal  faithfulness,  is 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  343 

demanded  solely  for  the  child's  sake.  Among  races 
which  did  not  understand  the  relation  between  in- 
tercourse and  pregnancy  there  was,  as  far  as  I  know, 
no  faithfulness.  Will  faithfulness  disappear  when 
the  relation  between  intercourse  and  pregnancy  be- 
ing too  well  understood  will  be  eliminated  by  a  con- 
scious will?  Our  mind  refuses  to  believe  it.  Why? 
Is  not  the  double  standard  which  allows  to  man 
almost  everything  which  seems  reprehensible  in 
woman,  evidence  that  in  final  analysis  it  is  the 
thought  of  conception  which  makes  faithfulness  im- 
perative ? 

I  do  not  believe  that  it  is  man's  selfishness  which 
is  responsible  for  this  difference  in  the  treatment 
of  both  sexes.  The  position  of  the  illegitimate  child 
is  a  result  of  "brutal  sexual  selfishness."  But  it  is 
only  the  result  of  the  difference  between  father  and 
mother.  This  difference  gives  to  the  double  stand- 
ard its  logical  meaning.  When  the  double  standard 
is  removed  will  a  single  standard  make  conjugal 
faithfulness  compulsory  for  both  sexes? 

I  wish  to  state  here  very  clearly  that  I  am  not 
opposed  to  the  idea  of  faithfulness ;  I  believe,  how- 
ever, that  that  idea  will  have  to  be  placed  on  an 
entirely  new  moral  basis,  when  the  universal  regu- 
lation of  offspring  robs  it  of  the  main  excuse  it  has 
at  present. 

And  should  we  not  find  new  reasons  for  the  moral 
repulsion  felt  towards  prostitution  if  that  feeling 
of  repulsion  is  to  be  kept  alive?  I  do  not  speak 


344  SEXUAL  TEUTHS 

here  only  of  the  hypocrisy  with  which  numberless 
"moral  forces"  manage  to  make  despicable  the 
things  they  cannot  avoid;  nor  of  the  misery  and 
vulgarity  which  go  with  prostitution  because  al- 
most all  the  people  who  enjoy  it  are  themselves  vul- 
gar ;  I  only  speak  of  the  genuine  feeling  some  people 
have  towards  "paid"  love  and  which  is  a  mixture 
of  sadness  and  fear.  What  is  the  origin  of  that 
feeling  except  the  possibility  of  conception?  Pros- 
titution is  the  most  dangerous  enemy  of  compulsory 
monogamy  and  of  conjugal  faithfulness.  People  feel 
(unconsciously)  that  it  constitutes  a  dangerous,  dis- 
turbing factor  as  far  as  marriage  or  in  other  words 
the  bringing  up  of  children  is  concerned. 

It  is  not  easy  to  imagine  the  change  in  feelings 
which  would  take  place  if  we  changed  entirely  the 
basis  of  our  morality.  But  we  must  free  ourselves 
logically  from  the  idea  that  sexual  relations  and 
conception  are  unavoidably  linked.  Violent  efforts 
are  made  to  preserve  this  connection  between  the 
two  for  the  sake  of  our  public  morality ;  that  is  why 
the  regulation  of  offspring  is  considered  as  immoral 
and  sinful  from  two  points  of  view:  it  fosters  sen- 
suality and  constitutes  a  direct  interference  with 
God's  management  of  things. 

When  by  admitting  a  rational  regulation  of  off- 
spring we  grant  recognition  to  the  "pleasures  of 
the  flesh,"  when  besides  the  love  that  wishes  to  pro- 
create we  recognize  another  form  of  love  which  aims 
at  pure  gratification,  what  will  then  distinguish  this 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  345 

gratification  from  any  other  form  of  gratification 
which  man  may  derive  from  the  physical  or  mental 
beauty  of  other  human  beings? 

And  why  shouldn't  in  this  age  of  specialization 
where  gold  is  master  that  form  of  human  gratifica- 
tion form  the  aim  of  some  one's  existence? 

We  consider  it  perfectly  proper  nowadays  for 
singers,  dancers  and  poets  to  earn  a  living  by  giv- 
ing other  people  pleasure  with  their  voice,  their  legs 
or  their  heart  confessions.  Every  one  sells  for 
money  what  others  may  enjoy.  Why  should  one 
special  form  of  barter  be  despised  when  it  is  not 
(perhaps  unconsciously)  linked  with  the  thought  of 
conception  and  procreation? 

Another  of  our  notions  would  be  radically  changed 
by  the  regulation  of  offspring,  our  notion  of  ''nat- 
ural sexual  intercourse. ' '  Nowadays  the  worst  form 
of  immorality  is  unnatural  or  abnormal  sexual  in- 
tercourse. Our  penal  code  inflicts  upon  certain 
forms  of  it  severe  punishment  as  ''crimes  against 
morality."  The  idea  of  natural  sexual  intercourse, 
however,  can  only  endure  if  we  assume  that  con- 
ception is  the  natural  consequence  of  intercourse. 
As  soon  as  the  connection  between  the  two  is  broken, 
as  soon  as  it  is  no  longer  nature  but  the  human 
will  which  makes  the  decision  in  such  cases  (and 
regulation  of  offspring  means  that  nature  at  least 
on  the  negative  side  is  to  be  replaced  by  civiliza- 
tion, chance  by  prevision),  sexual  intercourse  of  the 


346  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

future  will  not  be  any  more  natural  than  our  pres- 
ent mode  of  nutrition. 

Our  nutrition  also  was  originally  something  '  *  nat- 
ural," that  is,  something  necessary  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  individual.  But  after  the  advent  of 
civilization  eating  and  drinking  have  wandered 
away  from  their  natural  purposes  and  become 
means  of  pure  gratification.  Does  anybody  believe 
that  caviar,  champagne,  brandy  and  condiments  are 
being  consumed  simply  for  the  sake  of  nourishing 
the  body  f  Or  is  seltzer  more  ' '  natural ' '  than  coffee  ? 
Therefore  any  embrace  which  does  not  serve  the 
original  " natural"  purpose  of  reproducing  the  spe- 
cies, a  purpose  which  official  morality  considers  as 
necessary,  oversteps  the  bounds  of  what  is  called 
"natural."  There  are  many  kinds  of  erotic  pleas- 
ures which  all  differ  one  from  the  other  and  can  be 
judged  by  all  sorts  of  criteria;  but  the  former  dis- 
tinction between  what  is  natural  and  what  is  un- 
natural cannot  be  applied  to  them,  for  one  is  just 
as  unnatural  as  the  other. 

To  prevent  readers  with  a  prejudiced  or  super- 
ficial mind  from  misinterpreting  me  wilfully  or  un- 
consciously I  will  say  this:  I  do  not  pretend  that 
changes  will  be  or  should  be  introduced  in  our 
method  of  dealing  with  those  things;  I  do  not  pre- 
tend that  there  will  be  or  should  be  a  change  in 
our  moral  estimation  of  things  and  actions,  I  only 
wish  to  state  that  a  regeneration  of  our  sexual 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  347 

life  will  cause  all  the  principles  of  conventional 
morality  to  collapse. 

It  is  an  instinctive  feeling  of  the  far-reaching 
changes  which  would  take  place  in  our  sexual  mo- 
rality which  makes  the  champions  of  our  modern 
hypocritical  morality  oppose  with  all  their  strength 
the  regulation  of  offspring  which  they  call  a  terrible 
sin.  And  as  every  new  system  of  morals  appears 
at  first  immoral  we  can  understand  why  German 
legislators  have  met  the  great  social  problem  of 
human  economy  with  a  little  police  measure  meant 
to  combat  "immorality." 


COITUS  AND  NIGHTMARES 
BY  WILLIAM  J.  ROBINSON,  M.D. 

THE  following  type  of  case  is  of  interest,  not  be- 
cause it  is  rare,  but  because  it  is  quite  common. 
And  though  quite  common,  it  has  not,  to  my  knowl- 
edge, been  reported  anywhere  in  medical  literature. 

Mr. is  a  hard  intellectual  worker,  44  years 

old.  He  is  moderate  in  his  habits;  doesn't  drink  at 
all,  and  smokes  only  two  or  three  cigars  a  day.  He 
was  married  at  the  age  of  24,  and  is  the  father  of 
three  children;  his  sexual  life  since  marriage  has 
been  rather  active,  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  he  in- 
dulged to  excess.  Four  or  five  times  a  week  was 
his  average  during  the  first  half  of  his  married  life, 
and  this  number  has  been  gradually  reduced  to  twice 
and  once  a  week  up  to  two  years  ago.  During  the 
past  five  years  he  noticed  that  intercourse  did  not 
agree  with  him.  The  first  two  or  three  days  after 
intercourse  he  felt  depressed  mentally  and  physi- 
cally. His  appetite,  his  digestion  and  his  sleep  were 
unmistakably  affected,  and  in  an  injurious  way. 
The  appetite  was  greatly  increased,  but  the  diges- 
tion was  spoiled,  and  the  sleep  was  decidedly  inter- 
fered with.  He  would  toss  about,  wake  half  a  dozen 
times  during  the  night,  and  get  up  feeling  anything 

349 


350  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

but  refreshed.  He  gradually  reduced  the  frequency 
of  his  sexual  relations,  but  this  did  not  improve 
matters:  when  he  would  abstain  from  intercourse, 
he  had  nothing  to  complain  of ;  but  as  soon  as  he  in- 
dulged, even  if  it  was  only  once  a  month,  all  the 
symptoms,  particularly  the  disturbed  sleep,  would 
make  their  appearance.  During  the  past  eighteen 
months  or  so,  the  matter  became  more  serious.  The 
first  and  second  nights  following  coitus,  particular- 
ly the  first,  became  a  torture  to  him.  His  sleep  would 
be  disturbed  by  horrible  nightmares,  and  he  would 
wake  with  severe  palpitation  of  the  heart,  and  all 
"atremble."  All  day  he  would  be  good  for  noth- 
ing, and  at  night  he  would  have  a  repetition  of  the 
previous  night,  though  in  a  milder  form.  The  third 
and  the  following  nights  he  would  usually  sleep 
normally — until  the  next  coitus. 

He  gradually  began  to  increase  the  intervals  be- 
tween his  relations :  from  once  a  week  to  once  in  two 
weeks,  then  to  once  a  month,  then  to  once  in  three 
months.  But  it  made  little  or  no  difference.  No  mat- 
ter how  rarely  he  would  have  coitus,  it  would  be 
followed  by  nights  of  terror  and  nightmares.  There 
seemed  to  be  an  emptiness  in  his  brain,  and  he  said 
that  he  felt  just  as  if  his  brain  substance  was  oozing 
out  with  each  seminal  ejaculation. 

This  brought  to  my  mind  the  ancient  notion  of  the 
nature  of  a  seminal  ejaculation.  As  is  well  known, 
the  ancients  believed  that  an  emission  of  semen  was 
the  actual  passage  of  brain  substance  down  the  spi- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  351 

nal  cord.  They  called  it  stillicidium  cerebri — an  ooz- 
ing of  the  brain.  Hippocrates  says :  * '  The  humours 
enter  into  a  sort  of  fermentation,  which  separates 
what  is  most  precious  and  most  balsamic,  and  this 
part  thus  separated  from  the  rest  is  carried  by  the 
spinal  marrow  to  the  generative  organs."  My  pa- 
tient had  never  heard  of  this  idea  of  the  ancients,  but 
it  expressed  his  feeling  exactly :  as  if  his  brain  was 
oozing  out.  It  should  be  added  that  his  ejaculatory 
ducts  were  evidently  atonic,  for  after  he  was  through 
with  the  act,  the  semen  would  keep  on  oozing  slug- 
gishly for  a  long  time,  i  Unless  he  would  go  down 
and  bathe  his  parts  thoroughly  in  cold  water,  the 
oozing  might  keep  up  all  night.  As  I  had  had  sev- 
eral such  cases  in  which  treatment  proved  of  little 
avail,  I  told  him  that  in  my  opinion  treatment  would 
be  useless  in  his  case — and  that  there  was  only  one 
thing  for  him  to  do:  to  give  up  sex  relations  alto- 
gether or  at  least  for  a  year  or  two,  and  then  make 
another  attempt.  He  said  that  as  far  as  he  was  con- 
cerned he  would  have  given  up  all  sex  relations  long 
ago — but  his  wife  objected  strenuously  to  any  curtail- 
ment of  her  wifely  privileges. 

She  had  been  quite  frigid  during  the  first  years 
of  married  life,  very  moderate  during  the  next  ten 
years,  and  only  during  the  last  five  years  has  she 
become  very  passionate  and  exacting. 

We  have  here  to  deal  with  one  of  the  great,  and 
also  all  too  frequent  tragedies  of  life,  with  one  of 
the  most  annoying  disharmonies  of  nature.  It  is  too 


352  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

common  an  occurrence  in  the  practice  of  the  sexolo- 
gist to  see  this  disharmony;  just  when  the  husband's 
sex  powers  are  on  the  decline,  just  when  he  would 
like  nothing  better  than  to  be  left  alone,  then  the 
wife's  libido,  which  may  have  been  peacefully  dor- 
mant or  lukewarm,  awakens  in  its  full  force,  and  de- 
mands more  than  her  husband,  with  the  best  of  will, 
is  able  to  give.  And  the  result  is  an  open  tragedy,  or 
repressed  and  concealed  unhappiness. 

But  this  is  a  digression.  The  object  of  this  ar- 
ticle is  to  emphasize  the  intimate  relationship  be- 
tween man's  brain  and  his  sex  glands.  In  woman 
the  sex  act  is  never  accompanied  by  such  mentally 
exhausting  effects,  by  such  brain-shock.  Men,  and 
particularly  men  engaged  in  creative  and  intellectual 
pursuits,  should,  therefore,  be  prudent,  and  not  waste 
their  sex  capital  like  reckless  spendthrifts.  A  time 
of  reckoning  will  come,  and  unless  you  belong  to  the 
small  minority  of  men,  with  an  apparently  inexhaust- 
ible sex  capital,  you  will  have  to  pay,  pay,  pay.  Your 
creditor  will  be  relentless,  and  you  will  not  be  able 
to  put  him  off  with  a  note.  He  will  demand  imme- 
diate cash  payment — both  capital  and  interest. 


A  CASE  OF  RAPE  ON  A  YOUNG  GIRL 
BY  DR.  F.  R.  BRONSON 

MR.  AND  MRS.  X.  went  to  the  theater.  Their  little 
daughter  Irene,  thirteen  years  old,  reluctantly  fin- 
ished her  lessons,  took  a  hot  bath  as  she  was  ex- 
pected to,  and  went  to  bed.  She  was  an  only 
child,  petted  and  wilful,  and  spent  all  her  leisure  time 
reading.  Her  parents  often  remonstrated  with  her 
for  reading  so  much,  and  such  cheap  novels  at  that, 
but  she  was  obdurate.  She  had  wanted  also  to  go 
to  the  theater,  but  the  parents  did  not  think  she  was 
quite  old  enough  for  the  modern  play. 

She  was  alone  in  the  flat,  with  the  exception  of  an 
old  cook  who  slept  in  a  room  beyond  the  kitchen. 
When  Mr.  and  Mrs.  X.  came  home,  a  little  past  mid- 
night, they  found  Irene  greatly  agitated  and  sob- 
bing as  if  her  heart  would  break.  When  they  asked 
her  what  the  trouble  was  she  refused  to  give  any 
answer.  They  urged  her  and  begged  her  to  say 
what  was  ailing  her,  or  what  had  happened  to  her, 
but  to  no  avail.  When  the  father  took  her  in  his 
arms  and  began  to  pet  her  and  stroke  her  hair  and 
face,  her  sobs  increased  in  intensity.  The  parents 
became  worried  and  decided  to  send  for  a  physician. 
No,  she  did  not  want  a  physician,  she  would  not  let 

353 


354  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

him  look  at  her,  and  her  sobs  became  more  loud,  more 
hysterical,  her  body  shaking  like  an  aspen  leaf.  Fi- 
nally, the  father  told  her  rather  sternly  that  she 
would  have  to  tell  what  was  the  matter  or  he  would 
immediately  phone  for  Dr.  E.,  a  physician  of  whom 
she  stood  since  childhood  in  considerable  awe.  He 
knew  how  to  handle  her,  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
rebuke  her  wilfulness  and  scold  her  for  her  selfish- 
ness. Also,  more  than  once  when  she  claimed  she 
felt  sick,  he  said  that  she  was  a  little  humbug  and 
that  she  was  not  sick  at  all.  She  seemed  to  get 
frightened  when  the  father  said  he  would  send  for 
the  doctor,  and  she  then  hesitatingly  and  sobbingly 
came  out  with  the  following  story. 

After  she  went  to  bed,  she  read  for  a  while,  then 
fell  asleep.  About  ten  o  'clock,  it  must  have  been,  the 
bell  rang,  and  as  cook  was  asleep  and  did  not  answer, 
she  went  down  and  opened  the  door.  A  man  came 
in,  asked  for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  X.,  and  when  he  found 
out  that  there  was  nobody  in  the  house,  he  told  her 
to  go  to  bed  and  that  he  would  wait.  After  she  got 
into  bed  and  began  to  doze,  the  man  also  got  into 
the  bed,  and  then  he  hurt  her  "something  awful." 
She  couldn't  say  just  exactly  what  he  did  to  her. 
Later,  however,  when  urged  by  the  mother,  she  gave 
such  details  of  the  act  of  rape,  including  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  male  organ,  the  pain  following  the  rup- 
ture of  the  hymen,  the  ejaculation  of  the  spermatic 
fluid,  that  no  doubt  was  left  as  to  the  truthfulness  of 
her  story. 


SEXUAJL  TRUTHS  355 

When  asked  why  she  did  not  scream,  so  that  the 
cook  could  hear,  she  said  that  when  she  tried  to,  the 
man  put  his  hand  over  her  mouth,  and  then  he  stuffed 
it  with  a  handkerchief.  After  she  told  the  story  she 
ceased  to  sob  and  calmed  down.  When  asked  if  she 
knew  who  the  man  was,  if  she  had  ever  seen  him  be- 
fore, she  answered  in  the  negative.  But  it  could  be 
seen  that  she  was  hiding  something;  that  she  knew, 
but  did  not  want  to  tell.  Urged  persistently  by  the 
mother,  she  finally  told  that  it  was  Mr.  N.  who  had  a 
room  with  the  family  in  the  apartment  above  theirs. 

The  mother  wanted  to  rush  at  once  upstairs,  and 
strangle  her  daughter's  assailant.  But  the  father 
succeeded  in  calming  her,  and  persuaded  her  to  wait 
until  morning.  Early  in  the  morning  he  telephoned 
up  to  Mr.  N.  but  was  told  by  a  member  of  the  family 
that  Mr.  N.  had  not  slept  home,  that  as  far  as  they 
knew  he  was  out  of  town.  He  had  said  the  day  be- 
fore that  he  was  going  out  of  town  for  a  day  or  two. 
This  was  to  the  mother  an  additional  proof  of  the 
man's  villainy,  and  she  was  for  running  at  once  to  the 
police  or  the  court  or  somewhere  to  get  out  a  war- 
rant for  the  man's  arrest.  This  the  father  would 
not  permit.  He  would  permit  no  scandal  or  publicity 
of  any  sort  until  he  had  a  private  interview  with 
Mr.  N.  Though  he  knew  him  but  slightly,  he  did  not 
seem  to  him  the  sort  of  man  capable  of  committing 
such  a  deed  on  a  young  girl.  He  left  a  note  for  Mr. 
N.  that  he  wanted  to  see  him  on  an  important  mat- 


356  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

ter,  he  should  please  come  down  as  soon  as  he  came 
back. 

Mr.  N.  came  rather  late  the  same  evening.  He 
seemed  surprised  at  the  note,  but  he  was  still  more 
astonished  at  the  reception  he  received.  The  mother 
looked  daggers,  little  Irene  ran  away  and  began  to 
sob,  while  the  father  looked  cold  and  noncommittal. 
In  as  few  words  as  possible  the  father  told  him  what 
the  trouble  was,  what  he  was  charged  with.  Mr.  N.  's 
face  was  flaming  with  indignation.  ' '  What  is  this,  a 
blackmailing  scheme,  or  a  badger  game?  But  you 
have  struck  the  wrong  party."  Mr.  N.  must  be  a 
consummate  actor — or  he  is  innocent,  thought  the 
father.  Irene  was  called  in,  confronted  with  N.,  and 
asked  to  repeat  her  story.  She  told  substantially  the 
same  story  as  she  told  the  previous  night  to  the  par- 
ents. By  that  time  Mr.  N.  had  calmed  down  and 
while  Irene  was  telling  her  story,  he  was  watching 
her  in  an  amused  way.  "What  time  do  you  say  was 
it  when  I  came  down  here ? "  "It  was  just  ten  o 'clock, 
because  I  looked  at  the  clock  and  heard  it  strike  ten. ' ' 
"At  that  time,  Mr.  X.,  I  was  in  Philadelphia,  cele- 
brating my  sister's  tenth  wedding  anniversary.  I 
went  there  with  my  mother  who  lives  in  New  York. 
We  left  at  four  P.  M. "  And  he  showed  Mr.  X.  an  in- 
vitation to  the  wedding  anniversary  which  he  took 
from  his  pocket.  "Perhaps  you  wish  to  communi- 
cate with  my  mother  and  my  sister.  Their  addresses 
and  phone  numbers  are  .  .  ." 

By  that  time  the  father  was  convinced,  if  the 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  357 

mother  was  not,  that  at  least  as  far  as  Mr.  N.  was 
concerned,  little  Irene  was  simply  lying.  The  mother 
asked  if  she  was  sure  that  it  was  Mr.  N.  At  first 
she  said  yes.  But  after  she  looked  up  at  the  faces 
of  Mr.  N.  and  her  father,  she  began  to  stammer, 
and  said  no,  it  was  not  Mr.  N.,  it  was  another  man 
whom  she  did  not  know.  When  asked  why  she  said 
it  was  Mr.  N.,  she  said  she  didn  't  know,  she  thought 
it  was,  the  other  man  looked  like  Mr.  N. 

Mr.  N.  had  a  long  private  talk  with  the  father, 
pointed  out  to  him  what  terrible  consequences  such 
an  accusation  might  have  for  a  man  who  could  not 
prove  an  alibi,  who  could  hire  no  lawyer,  and  who 
perhaps  was  unfortunate  enough  to  be  known  as 
rather  loose  in  his  sexual  life.  And  finally,  before 
going  away,  he  threw  out  a  remark,  that  he  would  not 
be  at  all  surprised  to  learn  that  the  whole  story  was 
an  invention  from  beginning  to  end. 

This  seemed  to  the  parents  insultingly  absurd, 
because  firstly,  Irene  was  never  known  deliberately 
to  lie,  to  fabricate  stories;  she  might  be  mistaken, 
she  might  exaggerate  things,  but  she  was  not  a  liar; 
and  secondly,  how  could  such  a  pure  innocent  child 
know  the  details  of  the  sexual  act,  the  appearance 
of  the  erect  male  organ,  the  process  of  defloration 
and  penetration,  etc.?  The  mother  was  furious  at 
Mr.  N.  for  having  dared  to  make  such  an  insinuation. 
But  Mr.  N.  just  smiled,  bowed  and  took  his  depar- 
ture. 

While  fully  believing  in  Irene's  innocence,  ignor- 


358  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

ance  and  veracity,  the  father  decided  to  have  expert 
opinion  on  his  little  daughter's  condition.  Besides, 
he  feared  that  if  she  was  really  raped  she  might  be- 
come pregnant.  He  therefore  decided  not  to  delay» 
took  a  taxi  and  took  Irene — the  mother  of  course 
went  along — to  Dr.  R.  Dr.  R.  examined  her,  said 
that  the  hymen  was  absolutely  intact, — the  attempt 
to  insert  the  little  finger  caused  her  to  cry  out 
with  pain — that  there  was  not  the  slightest  sign  of 
any  violence,  and  when  told  of  Irene 's  story  unhesi- 
tatingly pronounced  it  a  fabrication. 

When  they  got  back  home,  the  father,  always  an 
easy-going  man,  was  furious,  and  for  the  first  time 
in  his  life  he  gave  Irene  a  severe  whipping.  She 
took  it  as  a  matter  of  course,  as  a  well-merited  pun- 
ishment, and  hardly  cried.  The  father  presented  to 
her  the  enormity  of  the  crime  of  such  a  lie,  and 
showed  her  that  a  man  could  be  sent  away  for  it  to 
prison  for  many  years.  She  was  sorry,  she  won't 
do  it  again,  but  she  did  not  know  that  people  were 
sent  to  prison  for  such  a  thing.  "There,  Mabel. 
.  .  .  ."  "What  about  Mabel?  Which  Mabel?"  But 
here  neither  the  father  nor  the  mother  could  induce 
her  to  say  another  word. 

When  urged  her  to  explain  what  made  her  tell  such 
a  story,  what  put  it  in  her  head,  she  said  she  dreamed 
it  and  thought  she  would  tell  it  as  if  it  were  real. 
And  there  the  explanation  remained  for  a  while. 
When  this  detail  was  told  to  Dr.  R.  he  said  that  while 
it  was  possible  that  she  had  some  sort  of  dream,  the 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  359 

explanation  was  not  a  satisfactory  one.  For  how 
could  she  dream  of  an  erect  phallus,  ruptured  hy- 
men, seminal  ejaculation,  etc.,  if  she  had  no  idea  of 
those  things  in  her  waking  hours  ?  But  that  was  all 
the  explanation  Irene  would  vouchsafe.  She 
dreamed  all  the  story  that  she  told,  and  that  was  all 
there  was  to  it.  The  parents  had  to  be  satisfied. 

About  a  month  later  a  letter  came  for  Irene  while 
she  was  out.  The  parents  considered  themselves 
morally  justified  in  opening  the  letter.  It  was 
signed  "Mabel"  and  was  of  an  extremely  obscene 
character.  The  girl  described  the  delight  of  coitus, 
what  fun  she  had  with  her  fellow,  and  it  also  con- 
tained crude  drawings  of  the  male  and  female  geni- 
talia.  It  contained  an  open  and  tempting  invitation 
to  come  to  her  home  on  Saturday,  when  her  mother 
would  be  out,  and  they  would  all  together  have  a  lot 
of  fun. 

When  the  parents  instituted  investigations  they 
found  that  Mabel  was  a  girl  of  sixteen,  whose  father 
had  been  dead  for  some  years,  and  whose  mother 
was  a  saleslady  in  a  big  department  store.  She 
was  a  good  deal  alone,  and  was  out  a  good  deal  with 
fellows.  And  the  same  kind  of  letter  she  wrote  to 
Irene  she  wrote  to  lots  of  other  girls.  Irene  was 
forced  to  confess  that  the  whole  story  of  the  rape  was 
told  her  by  Mabel.  She  had  been  recently  initiated 
by  a  young  fallow  but  while  it  was  with  her  consent, 
she  preferred  to  make  believe  that  it  was  done 
against  her  will.  She  did  not  complain  against  the 


360  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

fellow,  but  continued  to  have  frequent  relations  with 
him.  One  day  she  described  her  experience  to  Irene 
as  she  did  to  several  other  girls,  and  Irene  by  some 
peculiar  perversity  of  mind  transferred  that  experi- 
ence that  very  evening  to  her  own  self.  And  it  was 
a  lucky  thing  for  Mr.  N.  that  he  could  establish  his 
absolute  innocence  in  the  matter  on  the  spot.  Other- 
wise he  might  have  had  to  undergo  some  unpleasant 
and  injurious  publicity.  The  most  complete  exoner- 
ation does  not  wipe  off  the  stain  entirely.  First, 
because  a  good  many  people  who  read  or  hear  of 
the  accusation  do  not  read  or  hear  of  the  exonera- 
tion ;  and  second,  people  in  general  are  always  more 
ready  to  believe  evil  than  good.  And  even  when  a 
man  is  exonerated  they  are  apt  to  believe  that  the 
accused  merely  had  a  good  lawyer,  or  the  charge 
could  not  be  legally  proven,  but  that  in  reality  he 
was  guilty.  The  mob  dearly  loves  the  stupid  adage : 
where  there  is  smoke  there  must  be  some  fire.  It  may 
be  true  of  smoke ;  it  is  not  true  of  slander. 


SEXUAL  ABSTINENCE  AND  ITS  INFLUENCE 
ON  HEALTH 

BY  PKOFESSOB  ANTON  NYSTROM,  M.D.,  Stockholm 

AFTER  discussing  for  twenty  years  the  question  as 
to  whether  sexual  abstinence  is  injurious  to  one's 
health  moralists,  educators,  and  physicians  have 
managed  to  reach  the  most  contradictory  conclu- 
sions. 

Why  is  it  that  opinions  on  this  subject  differ  so 
radically? 

While  other  biological  subjects  are  being  investi- 
gated in  a  perfectly  scientific  manner,  ethical  consid- 
erations intrude  themselves  into  the  study  of  the  sex- 
ual functions.  Theology  also  has  made  its  influence 
felt  in  this  connection  and  has  introduced  into  the 
discussion  many  erroneous  notions  as  to  the  meaning 
of  morality  and  the  possibility  of  repressing  the  sex- 
ual instinct  by  the  exercise  of  will-power. 

The  majority  of  the  men  who  defend  sexual  absti- 
nence confine  themselves  to  reprinting  what  other 
partisans  of  it  have  written  on  the  subject.  They 
call  their  opponents  irreligious  or  unscientific  or 
disingenuous.  They  do  not  even  read  their  works 
in  order  to  criticize  them  intelligently.  On  the  con- 
trary the  physicians  who  doubt  the  possibility  of  liv- 

361 


362  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

ing  in  abstinence  without  harming  one's  health  base 
their  conclusions  upon  cases  they  have  observed  in 
their  own  practice. 

This  is  the  only  way  in  which  a  scientific  man 
should  collect  evidence.  There  are  many  physicians, 
however,  who  refuse  to  listen  to  what  their  parents 
have  to  say,  who  tell  them  that  sexual  abstinence 
cannot  harm  them  and  prescribe  cold  baths,  bro- 
mides and  more  abstinence,  besides  of  course  advis- 
ing them  to  seek  the  help  of  religion  and  to  rely  on 
their  moral  fortitude. 

One  of  the  reasons  why  physicans  seldom  mention 
abstinence  as  a  cause  of  disease  is  that  very  few  peo- 
ple abstain  until  their  thirtieth  or  thirty-fifth  year; 
and  besides  certain  physicians  seem  unable  to  ob- 
serve the  obvious.  Ten  physicians  may  come  and  tell 
you  that  they  have  never  noticed  any  bad  effects 
from  abstinence;  what  does  that  mean?  It  may 
simply  mean  that  they  have  not  been  able  to  observe 
those  effects  or  to  examine  their  patients  properly. 
But  if  one  reliable  physician  who  enjoys  the  con- 
fidence of  his  patients  has  noticed  bad  effects  from 
abstinence  his  word  should  prevail  against  the  word 
of  the  other  ten. 

Dr.  L.  Lowenfeld  is  frequently  mentioned  as  an 
authority  on  the  question  of  abstinence.  While  he 
pretends  that  abstinence  never  has  any  bad  effects 
many  of  the  cases  he  cites  contradict  flatly  his  state- 
ment. There  is  especially  the  case  of  a  young  man, 
a  lay  member  of  a  religious  order  who  was  constant- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  363 

ly  tormented  by  sexual  obsessions,  could  not  see  a 
woman  without  being  thrown  into  violent  excitation 
and  was  kept  awake  night  after  night  by  voluptuous 
visions,  all  this  in  spite  of  the  hard  outdoor  work 
he  was  doing  and  of  the  meager  fare  of  the  monas- 
tery. Lowenf  eld  himself  advised  him  to  give  up  the 
religious  life  and  to  get  married.  And  yet  Lowen- 
feld  tells  us  that  it  was  not  abstinence  that  was  al- 
most driving  him  into  insanity  .  .  .  "He  must  have 
inherited  a  weak  nervous  system, ' '  this  is  all  Lowen- 
f  eld  gives  us  in  the  way  of  an  explanation. 

Elsewhere  he  tells  us  that  "the  harm  caused  by 
abstinence  is  not  direct  but  indirect,  as  it  is  due  main- 
ly to  the  mental  efforts  made  to  control  one 's  sensu- 
ality ...  It  causes  intellectual  exhaustion  rather 
than  spinal  disease."  Lowenf  eld  does  not  "deny 
that  even  for  healthy  individuals  in  no  way  burdened 
with  a  bad  heredity,  abstinence  is  hard  to  maintain. ' ' 
"But,"  he  adds  (there  is  always  a  but  in  his  state- 
ments), "the  disorders  it  may  cause  are  only  of  a 
transitory  nature." 

Dr.  Joseph  Mayer  also  contends  that  sexual  absti- 
nence cannot  have  any  ill  effects  upon  one's  health 
and  adds  that  sexual  neurasthenia  is  due  to  an  un- 
bridled imagination ;  he  will  not  excuse  illicit  coitus 
on  any  grounds,  for  "illicit  coitus  does  not  in  any 
respect  differ  from  masturbation ;  it  has  only  one  ob- 
ject, to  produce  voluptuous  sensations  and  therefore 
is  like  masturbation,  immoral  and  unnatural." 
"Complete  abstinence,"  Dr.  Mayer  says  in  conclu- 


364  SEXUAL  TEUTHS 

sion,  "not  only  from  any  illicit  intercourse  but  from 
any  obscene  thoughts  can  only  be  beneficial  to  one's 
health  and  should  be  encouraged  by  everybody." 

In  a  lecture  delivered  at  a  commencement  exer- 
cise by  Dr.  Alfred  Sternthal  and  which  is  being  used 
as  a  tract  by  the  German  Society  for  Combating  Ve- 
nereal Disease,  we  read  things  like  these :  "History 
gives  many  examples  of  people  who  by  remaining 
absolutely  continent  retained  their  mental  and  physi- 
cal health  until  an  advanced  age  "  .  .  .  "  when  young 
men  complain  of  depression,  headache,  fatigue,  etc., 
following  pollutions,  it  is  simply  because  they  have 
read  or  heard  that  those  symptoms  follow  pollutions. 
They  are  generally  young  men  who  have  indulged 
in  the  vice  of  self -defiling,  in  masturbation  ...  It  is 
absurd  and  unscientific  to  state  that  coitus  is  healthy 
or  abstinence  unhealthy  .  .  .  Far  from  being  bene- 
ficial to  the  mind,  coitus  is  a  danger  for  it,  for  it 
makes  one  weak,  dull  and  lazy  .  .  .  Any  one  can  re- 
main chaste  without  indulging  in  masturbation.'* 

It  all  sounds  very  good  and  should  be  a  source  of 
great  comfort  to  anxious  mothers,  young  graduates 
and  friends  of  youth ;  but  it  is  all  untrue. 

History  tells  us  of  people  who  remained  chaste  and 
were  very  healthy  .  .  .  What  books  of  history  did 
our  author  consult?  And  who  are  those  people? 
Dr.  Sternthal  unfortunately  fails  to  mention  names. 
We  find  in  the  history  of  the  Church  mention,  of 
course,  of  the  names  of  many  men  who  were  conti- 
nent ;  but  what  do  we  know  about  their  health?  And 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  365 

those  people  had  rather  cold  natures  and  were  given 
to  philosophical  and  religious  meditation.  Besides, 
we  know  that  many  saints  were  tortured  by  evil 
spirits,  and  had  to  struggle  against  sinful  tempta- 
tions. 

The  fact  that  Catholic  priests  live  in  celibacy  is 
often  offered  as  evidence  that  the  sexual  urge  can  be 
repressed.  But  it  has  been  said  that  some  Catholic 
priests  seek  the  gratification  of  desires  which  they 
are  unable  to  repress.  On  the  other  hand,  certain 
authors,  for  instance  Hegar,  say  that  such  transgres- 
sions are  very  rare.  Others  like  Lallemand  and  Moll 
remark  that  only  people  with  weak  sexual  instincts 
enter  the  priesthood  or  that  educational  influences 
succeed  in  repressing  completely  the  sexual  urge  in 
those  who  choose  a  religious  life  at  an  early  age. 

The  majority  of  men,  however,  have  either  strong 
or  average  impulses  and  are  not  submitted  to  any 
educational  influences.  They  live  in  the  world  and 
have  no  leaning  towards  religious  meditations ;  they 
seek  the  company  of  young  women,  have  erotic  feel- 
ings and  desire  persons  of  the  opposite  sex. 

And  then  the  sexual  urge  varies  greatly  with  indi- 
viduals ;  some  have  a  weak,  some  have  a  strong  sex- 
ual instinct;  but  in  the  majority  of  people  that  in- 
stinct is  irrepressible,  and  religious  or  moral  princi- 
ples often  fail  to  keep  it  in  bondage. 

Many  physicians  who  minimize  the  dangers  of 
masturbation  make  very  bad  advisers  for  young  men. 
Gyurkovechki  tells  in  his  book  on  "Male  Impotence*' 


366  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

that  one  of  his  favorite  teachers  said  once  before  a 
small  group  of  students:  "Masturbation  indulged 
in  with  moderation  has  many  advantages,  especially 
for  students ;  it  enables  them  to  save  time  and  money, 
to  shun  bad  associations  and  to  avoid  venereal  in- 
fection. ' ' 

Dr.  Nacke,  defending  the  possibility  of  abstinence, 
states  that  the  libido  can  be  satisfied  by  pollutions 
or  masturbation  when  it  becomes  too  strong.  A  dan- 
gerous doctrine  to  preach. 

In  normal  coitus  the  two  components  of  the  sexual 
instinct,  the  detumescence  instinct  and  the  contrecta- 
tion  instinct  are  fully  satisfied  when  the  ejaculation 
takes  place.  When  ejaculation  is  brought  about  with- 
out the  help  of  a  woman's  body,  the  second  instinct, 
which  is  the  strongest  expression  of  love's  craving, 
is  left  ungratified ;  this  is  why  habitual  onanists  fail 
to  have  an  erection  when  they  attempt  to  perform  the 
normal  act  of  coitus. 

There  are  two  questions  we  must  always  consider 
when  discussing  the  problem  of  abstinence:  Is  ab- 
stinence accompanied  by  masturbation  ?  Does  a  man 
really  abstain  when  his  abstinence  drives  him  to 
masturbation? 

Abstinence  accompanied  by  masturbation  is  not 
abstinence  and  it  is  perfectly  ridiculous  to  ask 
whether  abstinence  is  harmful  in  cases  when  self 
gratification  takes  the  place  of  the  forbidden  coitus. 

Propagandists  of  abstinence  go  on  repeating  that 
pollutions  have  no  bad  effects  and  are  not  in  any  way 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  367 

a  morbid  symptom.  I  would  not  go  as  far  as  to 
pretend  that  pollutions  always  are  pathological  in 
their  nature;  the  majority  of  physicians  and  phys- 
iologists believe  that  certain  pollutions  are  mere 
physiological  manifestations;  this  is  true  of  pollu- 
tions taking  place  say  once  or  twice  a  month  and  fol- 
lowed by  a  feeling  of  exhilaration  and  a  desire  for 
activity. 

But  when  they  recur  every  week  or  even  several 
times  in  one  night  and  bring  in  their  wake  depres- 
sion, headache,  fatigue  and  other  nervous  symptoms, 
they  must  be  considered  as  pathological.  I  cannot 
see  how  physicians  can  declare  that  such  symptoms 
are  not  dangerous ;  I  say  most  emphatically  that  we 
should  not  confine  ourselves  to  treating  them  by 
hydrotherapy,  sports  and  other  palliatives. 

Pollutions  can  be  diminished;  they  can  even  be 
made  to  stop  entirely;  but  that  does  not  mean  that 
the  health  of  the  patient  is  not  affected;  sexual  ex- 
citability can  be  so  decreased  that  it  ceases  alto- 
gether and  then  we  face  impotence.  The  fact  that 
pollutions  cease  may  mean  that  the  patient  is  suffer- 
ing during  the  waking  state  from  seminal  losses  un- 
accompanied by  any  pleasurable  feeling  and  due  to 
a  relaxation  of  the  sphincters  of  the  seminal  vesi- 
cles. 

When  the  seminal  sphincters  become  weakened  the 
patient  may  feel  comfortable  for  a  while,  as  sperm 
no  longer  accumulates  in  the  vesioles  and  flows 
through  the  seminal  ducts ;  but  this  id  soon  followed 


368  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

by  morbid  symptoms,  weariness,  incapacity  to  work, 
melancholy  and  later  on,  impotence.  All  erotic 
thoughts  vanish  and  with  them  the  capacity  to  love ; 
a  man  suffering  from  spermatorrhea  and  impotence 
cannot  love  any  woman.  What  has  become  of  the 
strength  and  the  conjugal  joys  which  abstinence 
propagandists  had  held  out  to  the  "pure"  young 
man? 

The  only  cure  for  pollutions  and  other  ill  effects 
of  sexual  abstinence  is  regular  sexual  intercourse. 
Nature  demands  it  and  physicians  should  prescribe 
it  when  all  other  means  have  failed.  This  is  the 
attitude  assumed  by  men  like  Dr.  Max  Marcuse,  Dr. 
V.  von  Gyurkovecki  and  Dr.  M.  Porosz,  all  of  whom 
have  gone  deeply  into  the  question. 

Physicians  should,  of  course,  when  they  advise  pa- 
tients to  resort  to  intercourse,  inform  them  of  all  the 
available  means  for  the  prevention  of  venereal  dis- 
eases and  of  conception,  some  of  which  are  practi- 
cally infallible. 

Unfortunately  many  physicians  are  themselves 
perfect  children  in  that  matter;  I  know  men  who 
have  specialized  in  obstetrics  and  yet  have  never 
seen  a  pessarium  occlusivum;  they  would  not  know 
how  to  apply  it,  nor  how  to  advise  women  as  to  its 
use. 

Father  Karl  Jentsch,  a  Catholic  priest,  published 
in  1900  a  remarkable  book  entitled  "Sexual  Ethics, 
Sexual  Justice  and  Sexual  Police"  in  which  he  takes 
a  very  firm  stand  against  the  Swedish  physician 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  369 

Bibbing,  the  leader  of  the  sexual  rigorists  of  to-day. 

"Sexual  functions,"  Father  Jentsch  writes,  "have 
just  as  little  to  do  with  morality  as  the  functions  of 
nutrition.  Consequently  the  gratification  connected 
with  them,  or  the  desire  for  that  gratification  or  the 
idea  of  it  cannot  be  sinful.  I  do  not  call  chastity  the 
mere  disuse  of  sex  functions,  but  their  use  according 
to  what  the  ancients  called  castitas,  that  is  their  reg- 
ulation according  to  duty  and  reason.  .  .  .  Moderate 
gratification  is  not  only  harmless  but  necessary. 
Physicians  are  not  agreed  as  to  whether  abstinence 
is  directly  harmful;  but  under  normal  conditions  it 
is  indirectly  harmful  for  a  normal  man.  It  is  not 
true  as  Bibbing  asserts  that  in  periods  of  abstinence 
nature  supplies  the  proper  relief.  Many  men  (per- 
haps the  majority  of  men)  who  wish  to  avoid  'sin- 
ning' pay  for  their  continence  with  their  night's 
rest,  weeks  at  a  time.  .  .  .  What  fathers,  public 
opinion,  the  government  and  the  church  should  say 
to  young  men  is  this :  ' '  Try  as  hard  as  you  can  to 
be  abstinent  before  marriage.  If  you  fail,  do  not 
consider  yourself  as  an  evil  man  or  a  confirmed 
sinner.  Provided  you  do  not  become  a  wanton,  you 
may  accord  yourself  just  enough  gratification  to  re- 
gain your  peace  of  mind  and  the  composure  and 
exhilaration  necessary  to  carry  on  your  work;  but 
be  sure  to  take  all  the  measures  of  precaution  rec- 
ommended to  you  by  physicians  or  experienced 
friends." 

In  this  article  I  have  always  spoken  of  abstinence 


370  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

with  reference  to  men.  But  in  the  case  of  women  ab- 
stinence is  also  apt  to  bring  on  serious  trouble.  Gen- 
erally speaking,  abstinence  is  more  common  among 
women  than  among  men  and  more  easily  borne  by 
women,  for  many  more  of  them  have  what  we  call  a 
' 'frigid  nature." 

I  have  indeed  observed  cases  of  perfect  health  in 
women  who  seemed  to  live  in  abstinence,  but  we 
should  not  draw  absolute  conclusions  from  such  cases 
for  many  single  women  and  widows,  apparently  ab- 
stinent, indulge  secretly  in  sexual  intercourse. 

We  must  not  forget  either  that  a  woman's  or- 
ganism may  not  reveal  any  disorders  directly  due 
to  lack  of  sexual  gratification  but  that  other  disor- 
ders may  after  careful  examination  be  traced  back  to 
sexual  abstinence. 

The  conclusion  to  which  I  have  arrived  from  my 
numerous  observations  is  that  sexual  abstinence  may 
cause  serious  and  dangerous  diseases  and  may  in 
some  cases  have  actually  fatal  effects. 


DISTINCTIONS  BETWEEN  THE  MALE  AND 
FEMALE  SEX  INSTINCT 

By  DR.  LUDWIG  BEISINGER. 

IT  is  a  conspicuous  fact  that  in  none  of  the  numer- 
ous sexological  works  is  the  etiology  of  the  specific 
differences  between  male  and  female  libido  dis- 
cussed, and  this  in  spite  of  the  consensus  of  opinion 
regarding  this  question.  Excepting  a  few  authors, 
all  noted  investigators  are  of  the  opinion  that  the 
sexual  instinct  of  woman  is  not  aroused  previous  to 
her  having  sexual  intercourse,  while  in  man  this 
imperious  power  manifests  itself  spontaneously. 
Max  Marcuse  discusses  a  work  of  Fraenkel,  who 
maintains  that  a  sexually  inexperienced  woman  does 
not  suffer  as  keenly  under  abstinence  as  man  does, 
and  that  woman's  potential  sexual  instinct  has  to  be 
incited  by  coition.  In  his  extensive  work  The  Sexual 
Life  of  Women,  Kisch  declares  that  "from  the  mo- 
ment in  which  woman  has  got  sexual  enlightenment 
and  experience,  she  is  in  possession  of  sexual  stim- 
ulations the  contrectation  and  cohabitation  impetus 
of  which  is  as  powerful  and  impulsive  as  that  of 
man."  In  his  comprehensive  work  The  Sexual  Life 
of  our  Time,  Bloch  expresses  himself  in  a  similar 
vein.  The  conception  which  sees  in  the  prevailing 

371 


372  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

social  conditions  the  cause  of  woman's  imposing 
upon  herself  restraints,  may  not  be  quite  correct, 
because  these  conditions  spring  necessarily  from  the 
biological  nature  of  woman.  This  opinion  is  shared 
by  Kisch  who  points  to  the  difference  between  the 
male  and  female  sex  instinct  when  he  writes  that 
"  in  woman  the  sex  instinct  is  more  susceptible  to  the 
impulses  of  the  will  than  in  man,  and  the  ardor  of 
woman's  sexual  passion  is  more  easily  placed  under 
control  than  that  of  man.  ..."  Consequently, 
woman's  reserve  is  not  a  product  of  social  conditions 
but  the  natural  result  of  her  disposition  by  virtue 
of  which  the  will  has  the  power  to  check  the  impulse. 
Moreover,  Kisch  declares  that  "in  the  female  or- 
ganism there  is  a  wider  field  for  the  satisfaction  of 
the  sexual  instinct  than  in  the  male  organism. ' '  By 
a  kiss,  or  even  by  the  mere  consciousness  of  being 
admired,  a  woman  may  feel  herself  compensated  for 
the  deprivation  of  the  sexual  act.  The  same  is  main- 
tained by  Forel  who  says  that  flirtation  is  for  many 
persons  a  substitute  for  love  and  sexual  intercourse. 
By  pointing  to  the  fact  that  suppression  of  the  libido 
is  less  harmful  to  the  organism  of  woman  than  that 
of  man,  Kisch  has  advanced  a  striking  argument 
which  shows  that  modesty  and  reserve  have  their 
origin  in  nature  and  are  not  products  of  civilization. 
For  if  woman's  psychic  attitude  were  not  rooted  in 
her  physical  disposition,  abstinence  would  be  as 
harmful  to  her  as  it  is  to  man.  The  biological  cause 
of  man's  aggressiveness  and  woman's  passiveness  is 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  373 

undoubtedly  to  be  found  in  the  biological  difference 
of  the  sexual  organs,  to  which  fact  physicians  and 
physiologists  have  paid  too  little  attention.  The  phe- 
nomenon that  already  during  puberty  man  has  vo- 
luptuous feelings,  is  due  to  two  factors,  namely,  pol- 
lutions and  erections.  While  to  the  normal  virgin 
pollutions  are  unknown,  they  appear  in  man  at  the 
age  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  and  draw  his  attention 
to  the  ordinary  mode  of  detumescence.  The  erec- 
tions produce  an  annoying  feeling  of  tension  in  the 
genitals  and  force  the  young  man  to  seek  means  by 
which  the  detumescence  impulse  may  be  appeased, 
which  is  often  accomplished  by  resorting  to  mastur- 
bation. 

For  this  very  reason  it  becomes  quite  evident  that 
those  authors  are  wrong  who  claim  that  both  sexes 
are  equally  addicted  to  masturbation.  For  as  woman 
i&  free  from  the  organic  incentive  of  aggressiveness, 
she  is  not  so  much  disposed  to  practice  self-abuse. 
Fraenkel  may  be  right  when  he  states  that  once  in 
her  life  about  every  third  woman  (35  per  cent)  per- 
formed masturbatory  manipulations.  The  objection 
might  be  raised  that  the  menses  produce  an  hyper- 
emia  of  the  female  genitals  which  corresponds  to  the 
erections  in  man,  and  that  therefore  libido  is  not 
foreign  to  the  virgin  woman.  This  is  to  be  refuted 
by  pointing  out  the  fact  that  because  of  the  loss  of 
blood  menstruation  is  more  likely  to  be  followed  by 
exhaustion,  and  that  the  imperfect  erection  of  the 
clitoris  cannot  be  compared  with  the  hyperemia  of 


374  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

the  powerful  corpora  cavernosa  of  the  penis.  It  is 
by  these  physiological  differences  that  the  psychic 
distinction  in  the  libido  of  the  two  sexes  becomes  evi- 
dent, and  which  vindicates  the  opinion  of  those  who 
claim  that  it  is  only  after  sexual  intercourse  with 
man  that  woman  becomes  familiar  with  the  feeling  of 
voluptuousness.  To  be  sure,  the  reflections  which  are 
connected  with  the  painful  experiences  made  during 
defloration,  will  exercise  an  inhibitory  influence,  and 
at  first,  effect  a  resistant  attitude.  Intensive  erec- 
tions and  the  accumulation  of  sperm  cells  evoke  in 
man  impetuous  urgings  towards  detumescence,  while 
in  the  absence  of  these  masculine  peculiarities  even 
a  sexually  experienced  woman  is  able  to  curb  her 
passion  and  to  bring  her  libido  under  the  control  of 
the  wilL 


MISCELLANEOUS  BRIEF  ARTICLES 

by  THE  EDITOR 


DEATH  DURING  SEXUAL  INTERCOURSE 

HE  was  fifty-two  years  old.  But  nobody  took  him 
to  be  older  than  forty.  His  abundant  black  hair, 
which  showed  just  the  slightest  tinge  of  gray  at  the 
temples,  and  his  ruddy  complexion  gave  him  a 
youthful  appearance.  But  if  a  man  is  as  old  as  his 
arteries,  he  was  at  least  sixty  years  old.  His  doctor 
told  him  once:  You  look  forty,  chronologically  you 
are  fifty,  but  in  reality  or  arterially  you  are  sixty. 
His  arteries  were  hard,  and  his  blood  pressure  over 
180.  And  he  had  brought  on  this  condition  by  his 
;  excesses.  He  ate  and  drank  enormously,  smoked  in- 
cessantly, and  worst  of  all,  he  indulged  daily  or 
nightly  in  sexual  excesses.  They  were  not  ordinary, 
moderate  sexual  relations,  but  real  excesses,  into  a 
description  of  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  enter.  He 
was  warned  by  his  physician  a  number  of  times.  He 
was  told  that  unless  he  changed  radically  his  entire 
mode  of  living,  he  was  likely  to  go  off  suddenly  any 
time.  He  did  not  like  the  idea  of  dying  suddenly; 
life  tasted  sweet  to  him ;  he  was  enjoying  it  too  much. 
So  he  gave  up  smoking  entirely,  ate  moderately,  and 
drank  but  little  and  only  occasionally ;  but  one  thing 
he  refused  to  do,  and  that  was  to  diminish  the  fre- 
quency of  his  pilgrimages  to  the  shrine  of  Venus. 

377 


378  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

He  was  told  that  in  his  case  that  was  the  most  im- 
portant thing  to  do ;  the  possibility,  nay,  the  proba- 
bility of  his  dying  during  the  sexual  act  was  pre- 
sented to  him.  But  he  would  not  take  the  warning. 
And  to-day's  papers  have  the  announcement  of  his 
death.  He  died  early  yesterday  morning.  He  died 
of  " heart  disease."  And  only  three  or  four  people 
know  exactly  how  his  death  was  brought  about.  His 
lady  friend  who  knew  his  doctor  sent  for  him  imme- 
diately, but  when  he  came  he  found  that  there  was 
nothing  for  him  to  do.  The  man  was  dead  beyond 
resuscitation. 

New  York  still  remembers  the  sensation  that  was 
created  by  the  sudden  death  of  one  of  our  million- 
aires in  a  cheap  hotel  here.  Cases  of  sudden  death 
during  the  sexual  act — what  the  French  call  "the 
sweet  death" — are  not  at  all  infrequent;  certainly 
much  more  frequent  than  the  public  has  an  inkling 
of.  And  these  cases  of  sudden  death,  while  occurring 
in  the  lawful  marriage  bed,  are  particularly  frequent 
during  illicit  relations.  The  reasons  for  it  are  self- 
evident. 

People  with  high  blood  pressure,  with  hard  ar- 
teries or  any  cardiac  trouble  should  therefore  ear- 
nestly be  cautioned  against  any  sexual  excesses ;  but 
they  should  be  doubly  warned  against  indulgence  in 
illicit  relations. — W.  J.  E. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  379 


WORRY  AND  LIBIDO 

PHYSICAL,  exhaustion  and  disease  may  depress  the 
libido  in  men  and  women,  and  it  may  not.  We 
know  that  consumptives  in  the  last  stages  may  be 
strongly  libidinous ;  we  know  several  typhoid  fever 
patients  who  a  week  or  two  after  recovery,  during 
convalescence,  when  they  were  still  hardly  strong 
enough  to  walk,  exhibited  a  strong  libido  and  in- 
dulged excessively  in  sexual  relations.  But  there 
is  one  factor,  that  will  surely,  quickly,  almost  in- 
variably depress  or  entirely  abolish  the  sexual  de- 
sire, and  that  is  worry.  Worry  and  fear  are  the 
greatest,  most  efficient,  almost  infallible  anaphro- 
disiacs. 

A  rather  interesting  case  of  a  young  couple  re- 
cently came  to  my  notice.  Married  about  three 
years,  both  enjoying  exuberant  health,  possessing  all 
the  world's  goods,  without  a  care  in  the  world,  and 
still  genuinely  in  love  with  each  other,  their  vita 
sexualis  was  very  active  and  very  satisfactory.  But 
the  second  draft  came  around,  and  they  began  to 
worry.  They  " worried  themselves  sick."  She  cried 
often  and  could  not  sleep  nights.  He  did  not  cry, 
and  he  still  could  sleep,  but  he  worried  greatly — 
more  than  he  cared  to  admit.  He  hated  to  leave  his 
beautiful  young  girl-wife,  as  well  as  the  comforts  of 
home,  and  while  he  was  not  at  all  a  physical  coward, 
what  he  read  about  the  "cooties"  and  the  rats,  did 


380  SEXUAL  TEUTHS 

not  make  him  very  eager  to  exchange  his  comfortable 
apartment  for  a  trench.  Before  they  took  any  ac- 
count of  the  matter,  three  weeks  passed  without 
their  indulging  even  once.  And  prior  to  that,  dur- 
ing the  three  years  of  their  married  life,  not  one 
week  had  gone  by,  without  their  indulging,  once, 
twice  or  three  times.  And  now  when  he  did  make 
an  attempt,  the  result  was  highly  unsatisfactory, 
both  to  him  and  to  her.  Another  attempt  two  weeks 
later  resulted  similarly. 

In  the  meantime  the  husband  whose  sight  in  one 
eye  was  poor,  consulted  an  ophthalmologist,  who  as- 
sured him,  that  he  had  nothing  to  fear,  that  he  would 
never  be  sent  to  France,  that  in  the  worst  case  he 
would  be  given  limited  service  here.  Then  the  out- 
look for  peace  became  more  favorable,  and  he  became 
convinced  that  there  was  not  much  chance  of  his 
being  taken  away  from  his  wife  and  his  home.  He 
ceased  to  worry.  And  with  the  cessation  of  the 
worry,  his  libido  came  back  in  its  former — for  a 
while  in  increased — strength.  And  the  same  thing 
happened  to  his  wife.  In  our  practice  we  have  had 
many  striking  examples  of  the  effect  of  worry  on 
the  libido  sexualis  in  both  sexes.  Yes,  worry  is  a 
great  anaphrodisiac.  And  it  shows  more  unequivo- 
cally than  anything  else  does  that  in  modern  civilized 
man  the  libido  is  influenced  by  psychic  as  much  as 
by  physical  factors;  perhaps  even  more  by  the 
former  than  by  the  latter. — W.  J.  E. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS        381 


FALSE  ACCUSATION  OF  EAPE 

T  TRUST  that  the  reader  will  read  the  article  "A 
Case  of  'Rape'  on  a  Young  Girl,"  published  else- 
where in  this  volume,  with  more  than  the  usual  at- 
tention. Not  because  the  case  is  especially  extraor- 
dinary— similar  and  stranger  cases  have  been  re- 
ported in  literature — but  because  it  serves  to  remind 
us  of  the  great  danger  that  men  are  often  in  from 
false  accusations  by  female  children  and  women. 
It  was  nearly  a  century  ago  that  the  famous  Sir 
Astley  Cooper  cautioned  his  students  to  be  extremely 
careful  when  dealing  with  accusations  of  rape  by 
young  girls.  The  words  of  Sir  Astley  Cooper  are 
worth  repeating : 

".  .  .  From  time  to  time  it  happens  that  an  im- 
pressionable mother  becomes  alarmed  at  the  discov- 
ery of  some  discharge  and  suspects  that  her  child 
has  been  mishandled.  She  seeks  a  physician,  who 
unfortunately  does  not  know  this  disease,  and  de- 
clares that  the  child  has  a  venereal  discharge.  .  .  . 
What  happens  in  such  a  case  ?  The  mother  asks  the 
child:  'Who  has  been  playing  with  you?'  The  child 
answers  in  all  innocence : '  Nobody,  mamma,  I  assure 
you. '  To  which  the  mother  replies : '  Oh,  don't  tell  me 
any  such  lies ;  I  '11  spank  you  if  you  do. '  And  then  the 
child  is  led  to  confess  what  never  happened  in  order 
to  escape  punishment.  The  child  finally  says :  '  Such 
and  such  a  person  took  me  on  his  knees. '  The  indi- 


382  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

vidual  is  questioned  and  denies  emphatically.  But 
the  child,  fearing  the  threats  of  her  mother,  persists 
in  her  story.  The  man  is  taken  to  court;  a  physi- 
cian who  does  not  know  the  nature  of  the  discharge 
gives  his  testimony,  and  the  man  is  punished  for  a 
crime  that  he  has  never  committed." 

Sir  Astley  concludes  by  saying:  "I  have  seen  such 
cases  more  than  thirty  times  in  the  course  of  my  life, 
and  I  can  assure  you  that  a  number  of  men  have  been 
hiwg  in  consequence  of  a  similar  error." 

And  though  these  words  were  uttered  nearly  a 
century  ago,  and  though  those  who  have  had  experi- 
ence with  rape  cases  are  aware  of  the  fact  that  not 
in  one  out  of  ten  cases  are  the  charges  of  rape  found 
to  be  true,  men  are  still  subjected  to  the  disgrace  of 
publicity,  to  imprisonment,  to  blackmail,  to  money 
settlements,  etc.  on  the  unsupported  testimony  of 
girls.  Mothers  are  particularly  apt  to  believe  the 
statements  of  their  little  daughters,  and  sometimes 
by  the  aid  of  leading  questions  they  guide  them  to 
the  invention  of  the  accusation. — W.  J.  R. 

NORMAL  VS.  ABNORMAL  SEXUALITY 

I  AM  much  more  interested  in  the  fearful  heart- 
aches, in  the  unquenchable  longings  of  normal  men 
and  women  of  all  ages  than  I  am  in  the  sufferings  of 
perverts  and  degenerates.  Not  that  I  pity  the  latter 
less,  but  I  pity  the  former  more.  For  we  must  bear 
in  mind  that  taken  all  in  all,  the  perverts,  including 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  383 

in  this  term  the  homosexuals,  sadists,  masochists, 
nymphomaniacs,  etc.,  do  not  constitute  more  than 
five  per  cent,  of  the  population.  The  sexually  nor- 
mal constitute  ninety-five  per  cent.  And  we  cer- 
tainly should  devote  most  of  our  attention  to  those 
who  constitute  the  vast  majority  than  to  those  who 
constitute  an  insignificant  and  almost  negligible 
minority.  We  must  further  bear  in  mind,  that 
racially  the  perverts  constitute  a  very  undesirable 
element  and  it  would  be  best  if  they  could  be  pre- 
vented from  procreating.  And  then  again  try  as  we 
may  we  cannot  work  up  any  genuine  sympathy 
towards  a  cruel  sadist  or  one  who  is  addicted  to  bes- 
tiality. The  best  thing  for  such  people  would  be  to 
take  a  dose  of  HCN.  That's  what  I  did  advise  one 
to  do,  quite  frankly. 

I  therefore  confess  that  the  normal  healthy  man 
and  woman,  who  suffer  agonies  and  whose  life  blood 
drips  slowly  away  because  their  physical  and  spir- 
itual longings  find  no  outlet  and  no  satisfaction, 
touch  me  and  interest  me  much  more  deeply  than  do 
the  perverts. — W.  J.  E. 

THE  TASK  OF  SEXOLOGY 

IN  my  opinion  the  task  of  Sexology  for  many  years 
to  come  will  consist  in  a  searching  study  of  the 
elements  of  the  normal  manifestations  of  sex,  both 
physical  and  spiritual — the  latter  being  the  more 
important,  in  an  analysis  of  that  feeling  which  has 


384  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

so  far  defied  all  analysis,  the  feeling  which  is  as 
much  of  a  mystery  now  as  it  was  three  thousand 
years  ago,  nay  is  much  more  of  a  mystery,  because 
with  the  growing  complexity  of  human  spirituality 
and  human  culture,  the  feeling  becomes  much  finer, 
much  more  delicate,  much  more  complex,  the  feel- 
ing which  for  the  lack  of  a  better  word  we  call — 
Love.  The  abnormal  manifestations  of  sex  must 
not  be  neglected — but  they  must  be  given  a  subor- 
dinate place. 

SEXOLOGY  VS.  OBSCENITY 

A  PHYSICIAN  sent  an  article  to  the  American  Jour- 
nal of  Urology  and  Sexology,  which  I  promptly  re- 
turned. I  told  him  that  the  postal  authorities  would 
not  stand  for  such  stuff,  but  even  if  they  did  I  would 
not  think  of  publishing  it,  because  I  considered  it 
vulgar,  filthy,  and  what  is  most  important,  because 
I  considered  it  as  having  no  raison  d  'etre.  He  wrote 
back  saying  that  he  was  surprised  and  pained  to 
discover  that  with  all  my  broad-mindedness  and 
radicalism  I  was  a  narrow-minded  puritan.  I  did 
not  reply,  but  I  will  take  this  occasion  to  say  that 
if  aversion  to  coarse  vulgarity  and  purposeless  ob- 
scenity constitutes  puritanism,  then  I  am  a  puritan. 
Sexology  is  not  synonymous  with  scatology.  There 
is  nothing  that  I  consider  sacred,  taboo,  beyond  the 
pale  of  discussion,  but  there  must  be  a  purpose  be-  I 
hind  it;  you  must  show  me  that  the  purpose  is  the 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  385 

improvement  of  human  conditions,  the  increase  of 
the  sum-total  of  human  happiness. 

The  motto  that  I  adopted  years  ago:  no  book — 
and  no  article — has  a  right  to  exist  that  has  not  for 
its  purpose  the  betterment  of  mankind,  by  affording 
either  useful  instruction  or  healthful  recreation,  is 
still  my  motto  to-day.  And  I  want  everybody  to 
know  it.  In  twenty  years  of  writing  I  have  not  been 
guilty  of  one  smutty  or  obscene  expression.  One 
can  write  and  speak  with  the  utmost  freedom,  using 
unvarnished  expressions,  without  being  obscene. 
And  the  writer  who  aspires  to  the  title  of  sexologist 
is  in  great  error  if  he  thinks  that  sexology  consists 
exclusively  in  reporting  cases  (many  half  a  century 
old  and  most  of  them  apocryphal)  of  bestiality, 
tribadism,  coprolagnia,  nymphomania  and  sadistic 
murders.  This  is  the  nauseating  fringe  of  sexology, 
but  it  is  not  sexology. 

And  in  conclusion  one  more  word:  The  deepest- 
going  sexologist  may  be  and  often  is  a  man  of  pure 
thoughts  and  pure  actions  (using  the  word  pure  both 
in  its  conventional  and  its  sublime  sense) ;  the  man 
who  likes  to  wallow  in  filth  is  not  a  sexologist.  He  is 
a  victim  of  the  foolish  vice  of  pornography.  The 
editor  flatters  himself  that  he  belongs  to  the  former 
group. 


386  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 


STEIKES  AGAINST  MARRIAGE  IN  ANCIENT 

TIMES 

THERE  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun.  * '  The  Strike 
of  a  Sex'7  is  neither  new  nor  original. 

That  strikes  against  marriage  occurred  in  olden 
times  is  reported  by  Lellius  and  Schottelius.  The 
young  women  of  Milet,  an  ancient  commercial  town, 
formed  a  peculiar  association.  The  latter  was  based 
on  the  idea  that  the  marriage  state  is  one  of  misery 
in  which  the  woman  was  subject  to  the  man  and 
which  brought  her  nothing  but  pain  and  trouble  and 
deprived  her  of  her  liberty.  For  this  reason  the 
women  swore  never  to  marry  and  if  force  was  used 
in  bringing  them  to  wedlock  they  were  pledged  to 
prefer  death  by  hanging.  Marriages  were  almost 
suspended  and  suicide  among  the  young  women 
reached  shocking  proportions. 

The  authorities  hit  upon  the  following  plan  to 
overcome  the  evil.  Counting  upon  the  sense  of 
shame  of  the  women,  they  decreed  that  after  her 
death  every  suicide  should  be  publicly  dishonored 
by  being  dragged  through  the  city  streets,  naked, 
with  the  same  rope  that  caused  her  death,  and  her 
body  left  exposed  to  the  insults  of  the  populace. 
Only  one  such  example  sufficed  to  break  up  the  or- 
ganization and  force  the  young  women  into  the  bonds 
of  wedlock. 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  387 


A  REMARKABLE  EXPERIMENT  IN  VENE- 
REAL PROPHYLAXIS 

WHAT  sacrifice  some  people  will  bring,  what  risks 
they  will  take  for  the  sake  of  Science! 

To  test  the  efficacy  of  mecurial  ointment  as  a 
prophylactic  against  syphilis  and  gonorrhea,  a 
young  man  agreed  to  have  unlimited  promiscuous 
intercourse  with  a  number  of  prostitutes,  some  of 
them  known  to  be  diseased.  In  a  period  of  four  weeks 
he  had  intercourse  forty  times  with  eighteen  differ- 
ent prostitutes.  Two  of  the  prostitutes  were  known 
to  be  suffering  with  acute  gonorrhea,  while  one  was 
in  the  acute  stage  of  syphilis.  He  used  the  mecurial 
prophylactic  and  neither  the  gonococcus  nor  the 
spirocheta  could  gain  admittance  into  the  body  of 
that  young  man.  In  spite  of  his  sexual  debauch  he 
went  scot  free.  (This  is  not  a  fanciful  story,  but  a 
real  experiment  reported  by  Dr.  Ed.  Richter  in  Der- 
mat.  Centralblatt.)  If  sexual  transgressions  de- 
serve a  punishment,  that  young  man  certainly  de- 
served one,  and  still  .  .  .  Verily,  great  are  the 
sacrifices  that  men — young  men  especially — will 
bring  for  the  sake  of  Science. 

If  time  and  space  permitted  we  should  feel  in- 
clined to  discuss  the  morality  or  immorality  of  in- 
ducing a  man  to  indulge  in  promiscuous  sexual  orgies 
for  the  sake  of  Science,  but,  as  it  is,  we  will  have 
to  leave  the  question  for  some  future  occasion. 


388  SEXUAL  TKUTHS 


UNCONSIDERED  EVILS  OF  THE  MASTURBA- 
TION BOGIE 

IT  is  now  agreed  by  all  sexologists  that  the  evils  of 
masturbation  are,  in  most  cases,  nil  or  very  trifling, 
the  real  damage  being  done  by  the  fear  of  the  in- 
juriousness  of  the  habit. 

This  is  not  the  point  that  I  wish  to  discuss  here, 
for  I  have  discussed  it  a  number  of  times,  in  various 
articles  and  books.  But  I  wish  to  call  attention  to 
a  new,  hitherto  unconsidered,  phase  of  the  subject. 
I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  many  boys 
not  infrequently  conceal  from  their  parents  certain 
diseases  which  have  absolutely  nothing  to  do  with 
masturbation,  but  which  they  are  afraid  are  due  to 
their  occasional  indulgence  in  the  "solitary  vice." 

The  evils  of  masturbation  are  pictured  in  such 
frightful  colors  and  are  claimed  to  be  so  multitudi- 
nous, that  whenever  a  poor  boy  who  indulges,  how- 
ever rarely,  in  the  habit,  gets  some  trouble,  he  is  apt 
to  think  that  he  brought  it  on  himself  by  his  sin- 
fulness,  and  shame  and  fear  often  keep  him  from 
disclosing  his  ailment  to  his  parents. 

Here  are  two  cases  which  will  elucidate  the  point 
I  wish  to  make.  The  parents  of  a  boy  of  twelve — 
an  only  son — noticed  that  he  was  ill.  He  looked 
bad  and  was  getting  thin.  But  to  all  inquiries  he 
replied  that  he  was  feeling  well,  that  there  was  noth- 
ing the  matter  with  him.  Finally  the  parents 


SEXUAL  TEUTHS  389 

noticed  that  he  was  going  to  the  toilet  frequently, 
and  that  each  time  he  came  out  looking  ghastly.  But 
he  denied  that  there  was  anything  wrong  with  him. 
This  kept  up  for  some  time,  and  at  last  the  parents 
decided  to  take  him  to  a  physician.  The  physician 
when  left  alone  with  the  boy  asked  him  in  a  kindly 
manner  if  he  masturbated.  The  boy,  after  slight 
hesitation,  answered  in  the  affirmative,  "once  in  a 
while,  not  often,"  but  said  frankly  that  he  had  not 
done  it  once  in  three  months.  And  his  trouble  was 
only  about  four  weeks  old.  The  physician  asked 
the  boy  to  urinate — and  everything  cleared  up  at 
once.  The  boy  seemed  to  have  agonizing  pain  while 
urinating,  and  the  urine  when  examined  was  found 
highly  concentrated,  full  of  gravel  and  calcium  oxa- 
late  crystals. 

When  asked  by  the  doctor  why  he  didn't  tell  his 
parents  at  once,  he  answered  that  he  was  afraid, 
that  he  thought  his  painful  and  frequent  urination 
was  due  to  his  occasional  indulgence  in  the  bad 
habit.  On  further  examination  an  acute  nephritis 
was  found,  and  it  took  quite  some  time  to  bring  the 
boy  to  a  normal  condition. 

Another  case,  reported  to  me  by  a  friend  in  Wash- 
ington, is  that  of  a  boy  who  developed  a  scrotal 
hernia,  which  he  did  not  dare  mention  to  his  folks 
until  it  required  surgical  intervention.  And  he  did 
not  dare  mention  it  because  he  thought  it  was  the 
result  of  his  bad  habit.  He  had  read  one  of  those 
vicious  and  pernicious  books  in  which  every  possible 


390  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

ailment  and  accident  was  claimed  to  be  a  possible 
result  of  masturbation. 

We  wonder  how  many  thousands  of  boys  and  girls 
conceal  their  ailments,  suffering  in  silence  and  thus 
permitting  the  disease  to  progress  and  gain  head- 
way, because  they  are  afraid  that  their  troubles  are 
due  to  their  "sin"?  Who  can  calculate  the  damage 
which  the  vicious  quack  books  of  the  Sylvanus  Stall 
type  are  responsible  for? — W.  J.  B. 


APPENDIX  A 

THE  EFFECTS   OF   MASTURBATION— A 
GENUINE  HUMAN  DOCUMENT 

DR.  WILLIAM  J.  ROBINSON, 
New  York  City, 

DEAR  DOCTOR  : — I  have  just  had  the  great  pleasure 
of  reading  your  article  " Masturbation  in  Children" 
and  the  sane,  well  balanced  view  of  the  matter  which 
you  take  and  advocate  prompts  this  letter. 

I  am  thirty-four  years  of  age,  married,  holding 
a  responsible  position  in  the  service  of  a  large  and 
discriminating  corporation,  at  a  salary  of  $5,000  per 
annum.  I  was  accepted  by  the  Equitable  Life  As- 
surance Society  for  insurance  two  years  ago,  four 
years  ago  by  the  Meridan  Life  of  Indianapolis. 
Prior  to  acceptance  in  both  instances  rigid  exami- 
nations were  made.  I  am  in  perfect  health  save  as 
to  some  slight  trouble  with  piles,  mingle  in  good 
society  and  have  the  respect  and  confidence  of  my 
fellows.  Am  an  Elk  and  a  member  of  various  clubs. 
I  recite  these  facts  that  you  may  conclude  as  to 
whether  idiocy,  partial  or  complete  has  been  my  por- 
tion. 

At  about  thirteen  years  of  age,  as  nearly  as  I 
can  remember,  I  first  masturbated,  being  taught  the 

391 


392  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

practice  by  a  boyhood  friend.  In  fact,  all  of  us 
kids  in  the  neighborhood,  or  nearly  all,  indulged  in 
this  practice,  and  we  thought  nothing  of  it.  In 
swimming  in  the  river  we  used  frequently  to  handle 
each  other  under  the  water  where  bystanders  could 
not  see,  and  I  have  been  myself  masturbated  and 
performed  it  on  other  boys  in  this  manner  a  great 
deal  in  those  days.  Later,  as  a  boy  will,  I  heard 
dreadful  stories  of  the  results  that  would  come.  As 
they  did  not  come  I  kept  it  up.  It  is  my  recollection 
that  during  those  days  I  masturbated  sometimes 
during  the  day  every  day.  As  the  years  rolled  on, 
and  I  reached  something  like  sixteen,  a  school  teacher 
taught  me  or  rather  gave  me,  my  first  experience 
in  actual  intercourse.  She  was  my  sole  associate  in 
intercourse  for  a  year  or  two,  and  then  came  others. 
She  warned  me  of  disease  and  the  others,  and  though 
she  never  knew  I  masturbated,  and  I  did  not  during 
the  time  we  were  together  daily  after  school,  when 
she  left  the  city  I  continued  to  practice,  fear  of  dis- 
ease inspiring  it  as  much  perhaps  as  anything  else. 
Then,  of  course,  I  grew  bold,  and  had  the  usual  ex- 
periences of  a  young  man — promiscuous  intercourse. 
Contracted  gonorrhea,  was  cured  after  a  painful  I 
and  embarrassing  treatment — and  returned  to  the 
old  and  safe  practice  of  masturbation.  I  then  went 
to  South  America  for  a  few  years,  and  the  brown 
women  of  that  country  not  appealing  to  me,  I  mas- 
turbated during  that  period,  probably  not  less  than 
six  or  seven  times  a  week.  A  sweetheart,  upon  my 


SEXUAL  TEUTHS  393 

return  to  the  U.  S.,  of  whom  I  was  too  fond  to  take 
advantage  as  to  intercourse,  and  who  was  herself 
in  deadly  fear  of  the  pain  of  it,  grew  into  the  habit 
of  masturbating  me,  and  I  her — and  for  some  years 
this  went  on.  We  never  had  sexual  relations  with 
each  other. 

I  had  gone  to  school  and  graduated ;  upon  my  re- 
turn I  entered  college,  and  graduated  there  with 
high  honors.  All  the  time  I  had  been  a  more  or  less 
constant  masturbator,  and  during  college  years  used 
to  put  myself  to  sleep  this  way,  finding  that  when 
due  to  excitement  or  other  cause  I  was  sleepless, 
masturbation  would  induce  sleep  and  rest.  I  again 
became  promiscuous  in  intercourse,  and  again  con- 
tracted gonorrhea.  Cured,  I  resolved  "Safety 
First" — and  until  my  marriage,  mechanical  massage 
was  my  intercourse.  Unfortunately  I  married  a  girl 
who  was  not,  if  the  expression  is  a  proper  one, 
strongly  sexed — she  was,  in  other  words,  indifferent 
to  the  sexual  relation,  except  at  long  intervals.  I 
therefore  continued,  when  the  instinct  prompted, 
after  marriage,  masturbation.  I  have,  in  fact,  con- 
tinued it  until  the  present,  though  at  longer  and 
longer  intervals — now  rarely  more  often  than  twice 
or  thrice  a  week — depending  upon  responses  of  my 
wife  to  the  sexual  instinct. 

I  am  splendidly  muscled,  an  athlete  as  to  tennis, 
golf  and  hunting;  perfectly  normal  in  health — have 
always  been  a  man's  man — not  a  "Sissie"  or  an  ef- 
feminate boy.  It  seems,  in  my  case,  that  masturba- 


394  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

tion,  and  I  don't  believe  any  one  ever  indulged  in 
it  more  consistently,  has  not  been  injurious.  Of 
course  it  is  true  that  in  later  years  I  may  pay  a 
price — probably  will,  but  at  34  I  feel  like  a  million 
dollars ! 

The  foregoing  for  your  information,  Doctor — the 
statement  is  an  absolutely  truthful  one.  My  boy- 
hood chum,  in  company  with  whom  I  have  mastur- 
bated hundreds  and  hundreds  of  times  during  our 
boyhood  days,  is  now  the  Vice-President  and  Cashier 
of  one  of  the  largest  banks  in  the  Southwest,  a  mag- 
nificent man,  mentally  and  physically.  Others  of 
those  days,  who  then  had  the  habit  but  of  whose 
lives  I  know  no  intimate  details  in  recent  years,  have 
made  successes  in  various  lines  of  endeavor. 

Your  idea  that  the  inherent  defective  would  fall 
from  this  habit  is  the  correct  one — the  naturally 
strong  and  able  body  will  not — this  I  believe.  I  also 
believe  that  it  would  be  much  better  if  boys  could 
be  taught  to  look  out  for  disease  and  get  their  sexual 
satisfaction  in  a  natural  way — but  with  disease  as 
rampant  as  it  is,  I  believe  that  is  a  safer  proposition 
for  a  lad  to  masturbate  than  to  indulge  in  promiscu- 
ous intercourse.  Of  the  two  dangers — disease  ver- 
sus mental  decay — I  think  the  former  is  the  most  to 
be  feared,  and  the  latter  not  at  all  a  certain  result 
of  masturbation. 

I  salute  you,  Sir — and  remain, 

M.  C.  E. 

[We  ask  our  readers  to  send  us  similar  personal 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  395 

letters,  describing  their  vita  sexualis,  and  the  results 
if  any  of  various  habits  and  perversions.  It  is  time 
that  hearsay,  rumors  and  groundless  fears  give 
place  to  personal  experiences. — Editor.] 


396  SEXUAL  TEUTHS 

MOEALS  BY  POISON 

Is  there  no  limit  to  the  stupidity  and  audacity  of 
the  virtuous?  It  is  almost  universally  the  custom 
that  wherever  our  boys  are  herded  together,  as  at 
encampments  and  especially  in  preparatory  schools, 
to  drug  the  food  with  potash  salts  or  other  libido 
depressing  drugs  in  order  to  keep  them  quiet. 
Whether  this  is  partly  to  blame  for  the  notable  in- 
feriority of  prep  school  boys  at  college  one  cannot 
say.  But  at  a  time  when  the  secretion  of  the  tes- 
ticular  hormones  is  most  important  it  seems  odd  to 
dope  these  youths  over  a  period  of  years  with  these 
depressing  drugs.  Especially  is  this  true  when  we 
couple  with  it  the  further  drain  of  long  hours  of 
enforced  study.  No  distinctions  are  made,  all  re- 
ceive the  same  dose  regardless  of  their  development. 
The  fact  that  some  teachers  share  the  dope  proves 
nothing  as  to  its  harmlessness  to  the  adolescent. 
But  even  were  there  no  injury  to  health,  if  our 
morality  can  be  sustained  only  by  poisoning  our 
young  men,  for  God's  sake,  let's  go  back  to  bar- 
barism!—E.  S.  S. 


APPENDIX  B 

WHY  OLD  WOMEN  ARE  PREFERABLE  TO 
YOUNG  FOR  ILLICIT  RELATIONS: 

A  REMARKABLE  LETTER  BY  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 

AN  authentic  letter  by  Benjamin  Franklin  (born 
Jan.  17,  1706;  died  Apr.  17,  1790),  found  in  the 
Franklin  Institute  Collection  of  letters,  purchased 
by  the  United  States  Government  at  a  cost  of  $30,000, 
now  in  possession  of  the  Department  of  State  at 
Washington,  D.  C. 

June  25, 1766. 
MY  DEAR  FRIEND  : — 

I  know  of  no  medicine  fit  to  diminish  the  violent 
inclinations  you  mention,  and  if  I  did,  I  think  I 
could  not  communicate  it  to  you.  Marriage  is  the 
proper  remedy.  It  is  the  most  natural  state  of  man 
and  therefore  the  state  in  which  you  are  most  likely 
to  find  real  happiness.  Your  reasons  against  enter- 
ing into  it  at  present  are  not  well  founded.  The 
circumstantial  advantages  you  have  in  postponing  it 
are  not  only  uncertain  but  they  are  small  in  com- 
parison with  the  thing  itself,  namely:  The  being 
married  and  settled.  \It  is  the  man  and  the  woman 

397 


398  SEXUAL  TEUTHS 

united  that  make  the  complete  human  being.  Sep- 
arate she  wants  his  force  of  body  and  strength  of 
reason ;  he,  her  softness  and  acute  discernment.  To- 
gether they  are  more  likely  to  succeed  in  the  world. 
A  single  man  has  not  nearly  the  value  he  would  have 
in  that  state  of  union.  He  is  an  incomplete  animal ; 
he  resembles  the  odd  half  of  a  pair  of  scissors.  If 
you  get  a  prudent  healthy  wife  your  industry  in 
your  profession  with  her  good  economy  will  be  for- 
tune sufficient. 

But  if  you  will  not  take  this  counsel  and  persist 
in  thinking  a  commerce  with  the  fair  sex  inevitable, 
then  I  repeat  my  former  advice, — in  all  your  amours 
you  should  prefer  old  women  to  young  ones.  You 
call  this  a  paradox  and  demand  my  reasons.  They 
are  these: — 

Because  they  have  more  knowledge  of  the  world, 
their  minds  are  better  stored  with  conversation, 
their  conversation  is  more  improved  and  more  last- 
ingly agreeable. 

Because  when  women  cease  to  be  handsome  they 
study  to  be  good.  To  maintain  their  influence  over 
man  they  supply  the  diminution  of  beauty  by  an 
augmentation  of  utility.  They  learn  to  do  a  thou- 
sand services,  small  and  great,  and  are  the  most 
tender  and  careful  of  all  friends  when  one  is  sick. 
Thus  they  continue  amiable  and  hence  there  is  hardly 
such  a  thing  to  be  found  as  an  old  woman  who  is  not 
a  good  woman. 

Because  there  is  no  hazard  of  children,  which  ir- 


SEXUAL  TRUTHS  399 

regularly  produced  may  be  attended  with  much  in- 
sonvenience. 

Because  thru*  more  experience  they  are  more  pru- 
lent  and  discreet  in  conducting  an  intrigue  to  pre- 
sent suspicion.  The  commerce  with  them  is  there- 
Pore  safe  with  regard  to  your  reputation  and  with 
regard  to  this,  that  if  the  affair  should  happen  to  be 
mown  considerate  people  might  be  inclined  to  ex- 
mse  an  old  woman  who  would  kindly  take  care  of  a 
roung  man,  from  his  manners,  by  her  good  counsels 
md  prevent  his  ruining  his  health  and  fortune 
imong  mercenary  prostitutes. 

Because  in  every  animal  that  walks  upright  the 
leficiency  of  the  fluid  that  fills  the  muscles  appears 
)ut  in  the  highest  part.  The  face  first  grows  lank 
md  wrinkled,  then  the  neck,  then  the  breast  and 
irms,  the  lower  parts  continuing  to  the  last  as  plump 
is  ever,  so  that,  covering  all  above  with  a  basket, 
md  regarding  that  only  which  is  below  the  girdle, 
t  is  impossible  to  know  of  two  women  an  old  from 
i  younger.  And  as  in  the  dark  all  cats  are  gray, 
:he  pleasure  of  corporeal  enjoyment  with  an  old 
voman  is  at  least  equal  and  frequently  superior, 
jvery  knack  being  by  practice  capable  of  improve- 
nent. 

Because  the  sin  is  less.  The  debauching  of  a  vir- 
gin may  be  her  ruin  and  make  her  life  unhappy. 

Because  the  compunction  is  less.  The  having 
nade  a  young  girl  miserable  may  give  you  frequent 
jitter  reflections*  none  of  which  can  attend  the  mak- 


400  SEXUAL  TRUTHS 

ing  of  an  old  woman  happy.    And  lastly,  they  are  so 
happy  and  grateful.     This  much  for  my  paradox. 
But  still  I  advise  you  to  marry  directly. 

Your  affectionate  friend, 
BENJ.  FRANKLIN. 


17225 

RECEIPT 


DOLUA 


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